Housing

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties owned by registered social landlords have been sold on the open market in  (a) Greater London and  (b) England in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority area.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 13 September 2006
	Information on the number of properties owned by registered social landlords (RSLs) which have sold on the open market is collected on the regulatory statistical return of the Housing Corporation. Although information is collected from all RSLs, they are not asked to break down this information by local authority area. In addition, data were not collected prior to 2001-02. Summary information on total sales for the year available is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Dwellings sold by RSLs  to the private sector (Number)  Total owned stock  (Thousand)  Total stock sold to private sector  (Percentage) 
			 2001-02 1,285 1,593.6 0.08 
			 2002-03 1,133 1,762.4 0.06 
			 2003-04 1,877 1,776.6 0.11 
			 2004-05 3,157 1,976.7 0.16 
			 2005-06 3,081 2,040.8 0.15 
			  Notes:1. Data excludes Abbyfields and Almhouses.2. Only RSLs completing the long form RSR provided information in 2005-06. Source:Regulatory Statistical Return, Housing Corporation.

Housing

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made for the purposes of estimating housing demand, of the number of households formed by workers who have come from the 2004 accession countries.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 7 November 2006 (Question 94217).

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what factors she took into account when estimating that the cost of providing the fourth option for council housing would be £12 billion as stated in her speech of 26 September; and if she will provide a breakdown of the estimated costs.

Yvette Cooper: As set out in the document Decent Homes to Sustainable Communities there are a range of costs for introducing a "fourth option" depending on how many councils took it up as the approach would have to be fair for all councils. The factors taken into account when estimating the £12 billion were: the extra average investment per dwelling required to give local authorities the same level of investment per dwelling as under stock transfer, and the number of local authority dwellings in 2004-05 that would need this extra investment (number of dwellings sourced from the Business Plan Statistical Appendix 2005).
	The estimated increase in investment needed to maintain Housing Associations for local authorities retaining ownership and management, and for those planning transfer but yet to achieve this was £10,000 per dwelling and for authorities pursuing an Arm's Length Management Organisation (ALMO) the increased cost of investment was £1,500 per dwelling.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have taken up Government initiatives on  (a) shared ownership and  (b) subsidised home ownership; and what the cost of each initiative has been in each year since its introduction.

Yvette Cooper: The tables show Housing Corporation Affordable Housing Programme funded low cost home ownership initiatives between 1992-93 and 2005-06. Table A shows completions from each financial year up to 2005-06 and table B the same information on expenditure.
	
		
			  Table A: Units completed 
			   Shared ownership  DIYSO( 1)  Homebuy  Tenants incentive scheme  Right to acquire  VPG( 2)  Total 
			 1992-93 1,525 1,992 0 4,783 0 0 8,300 
			 1993-94 2,731 5,259 0 6,450 0 0 14,440 
			 1994-95 5,633 5,479 0 6,525 0 0 17,637 
			 1995-96 5,874 4,597 0 6,400 0 0 16,871 
			 1996-97 4,053 2,395 0 6,892 0 38 13,378 
			 1997-98 4,529 1,986 0 4,262 0 195 10,972 
			 1998-99 4,340 1,472 0 2,364 0 122 8,298 
			 1999-2000 2,956 191 885 413 4 86 4,535 
			 2000-01 2,551 0 1,487 0 18 140 4,196 
			 2001-02 2,211 0 1,270 0 38 133 3,652 
			 2002-03 2,315 0 1,332 0 111 142 3,900 
			 2003-04 3,574 0 2,600 0 236 154 6,564 
			 2004-05 5,627 0 5,274 0 0 543 11,444 
			 2005-06 8,423 0 7,651 0 471 78 16,623 
			 Total 56,342 23,371 20,499 38,089 878 1,631 140,810 
		
	
	The figures in the table do not include homes provided without grant through S.106 agreements.
	
		
			  Table B: Expenditure 
			  £ million 
			   Shared ownership  DIYSO( 1)  Homebuy  Tenants incentive scheme  Right to acquire  VPG( 2)  Total 
			 1992-93 81 43 0 52 0 0 177 
			 1993-94 92 121 0 76 0 0 290 
			 1994-95 87 117 0 76 0 0 280 
			 1995-96 64 97 0 73 0 0 234 
			 1996-97 82 51 0 82 0 0 216 
			 1997-98 61 45 0 52 0 2 160 
			 1998-99 49 34 0 30 0 1 115 
			 1999-2000 49 4 20 5 0 1 79 
			 2000-01 60 0 35 0 0 2 97 
			 2001-02 51 0 35 0 0 1 88 
			 2002-03 76 0 42 0 1 1 120 
			 2003-04 228 0 94 0 3 2 325 
			 2004-05 248 0 209 0 6 0 462 
			 2005-06 223 0 241 0 5 1 470 
			 Total 1,452 513 675 448 15 11 3,114 
			 (1 )Do it yourself shared ownership(2) Voluntary purchase grant 
		
	
	The Housing Corporation has a target to assist 35,000 households into low cost home ownership between 2006-08 at an estimated cost of £970 million.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many individuals have taken up each Government initiative to supply housing to key workers; and what the cost of each initiative has been in each year since its introduction.

Yvette Cooper: Since 2001 we have helped more than 22,500 key workers into homeownership through key worker housing initiatives. 10,322 were helped under the Starter Home Initiative which ran from April 2001 to April 2004. By August 2006 12,200 had exchanged or completed under the Key Worker Living programme since its launch in April 2004.
	The following table shows the expenditure by year on the Starter Home Initiative and the Key Worker Living Programme.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Starter Home Initiative  Key Worker Living( 1) 
			 2001-02 2.2 0 
			 2002-03 66.9 0 
			 2003-04 172.3 121.8 
			 2004-05 7.3 285.1 
			 2005-06 0 343.5 
			 2006-07 0 74.9 
			 (1) Includes investment through Affordable Housing Programme. Challenge Fund Figures for 2006-07 shows spend to end October 2006.

Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the Decent Homes initiative in each London local authority since its inception; and how much she expects to be spent in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Yvette Cooper: The total capital investment in local authority housing for the, financial years 2002-03 to 2004-05 and the planned expenditure for the financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08 is shown in the table. The data are from the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix 2005.
	
		
			  £000 
			Planned 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Barking and Dagenham 31,687 46,785 27,872 36,235 25,700 20,600 
			 Barnet 9,632 11,947 19,947 28,668 27,679 29,628 
			 Bexley 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Brent 11,576 23,003 52,160 48,936 27,589 10,300 
			 Bromley 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Camden 49,422 64,705 40,864 51,852 58,163 43,033 
			 City of London 1,264 656 1,582 1,649 1,633 867 
			 Croydon 16,390 14,423 15,875 24,503 19,585 17,296 
			 Ealing 27,955 20,463 23,878 32,706 16,200 16,100 
			 Enfield 13,489 13,920 10,996 13,089 14,260 15,361 
			 Greenwich 39,948 28,873 43,860 57,867 46,000 34,800 
			 Hackney 21,176 39,317 65,672 77,056 68,338 48,210 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 26,688 28,162 24,964 52,571 64,343 64,758 
			 Haringey 23,593 26,524 25,272 22,056 22,056 65,056 
			 Harrow 5,441 7,491 6,860 7,475 9,905 10,425 
			 Havering 7,249 14,430 10,885 11,464 10,293 10,293 
			 Hillingdon 13,687 12,668 28,850 31,871 30,850 24,305 
			 Hounslow 23,019 38,901 51,496 68,413 17,700 17,100 
			 Islington 44,915 62,687 56,296 94,608 99,206 99,726 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 9,366 13,449 20,844 21,724 22,171 20,940 
			 Kingston upon Thames 4,624 3,876 4,670 7,262 7,262 7,262 
			 Lambeth 48,010 52,126 60,333 59,588 60,926 56,707 
			 Lewisham 40,741 42,953 38,720 55,248 35,124 31,846 
			 Merton 6,211 5,195 6,210 5,372 5,047 4,897 
			 Newham 33,465 37,882 31,288 36,155 54,271 84,229 
			 Redbridge 4,855 5,963 5,183 6,278 6,882 14,114 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southwark 76,059 69,291 82,921 107,639 78,440 77,656 
			 Sutton 9,765 6,722 6,558 8,090 5,505 5,505 
			 Tower Hamlets 39,915 42,157 40,597 34,054 26,806 18,560 
			 Waltham Forest 19,343 19,101 21,597 24,454 39,443 37,757 
			 Wandsworth 27,026 35,529 36,608 29,266 31,616 28,675 
			 Westminster 46,277 29,249 53,437 82,200 55,858 25,286

Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the estimated average public subsidy was per unit of shared ownership accommodation in  (a) England and  (b) London in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much in Government subsidy was given to each household purchasing a shared ownership property in  (a) England,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London local authority in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06; and what the figures are for 2006-07 to date.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the average Government subsidy through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme for each shared ownership property in England; each English region and for each London local authority for 2004-05 and 2005-06 together with the latest estimates for 2006-07 and 2007-08. Housing Associations continue to own the share of the property funded by the Housing Corporation.
	
		
			  Average Government subsidy per shared ownership unit 
			  £ 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 England 31,629 25,076 27,372 25,334 
			  Region 
			 London 46,022 41,204 41,926 44,571 
			 South East 25,608 20,052 19,100 16,743 
			 South West 17,224 10,800 18,245 20,256 
			 East Midlands 20,743 15,988 21,297 15,345 
			 Eastern 20,012 12,875 14,477 15,729 
			 West Midlands 26,679 15,295 20,376 19,940 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 20,888 11,801 24,623 30,953 
			 North East 26,051 24,966 26,074 15,909 
			 North West 24,324 31,750 31,896 36,198 
			  London local authorities 
			 Barking and Dagenham 36,055 29,093 14,873 n/a 
			 Barnet 45,960 46,022 27,243 36,996 
			 Bexley 37,423 51,689 6,650 n/a 
			 Brent 46,784 48,132 45,609 54,456 
			 Bromley 31,950 28,148 45,000 n/a 
			 Camden 59,646 59,242 39,703 49,204 
			 City of London n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Croydon 49,535 47,460 48,999 45,000 
			 Ealing 39,719 54,302 50,276 46,096 
			 Enfield 49,077 42,372 54,551 n/a 
			 Greenwich 43,277 32,666 35,250 44,852 
			 Hackney 44,401 48,580 46,905 42,275 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 36,799 53,068 48,219 n/a 
			 Haringey 57,643 48,331 48,893 48,165 
			 Harrow 49,338 48,000 36,667 42,000 
			 Havering 27,941 29,058 52,188 n/a 
			 Hillingdon 40,625 22,547 25,000 n/a 
			 Hounslow 39,707 48,043 40,079 41,195 
			 Islington 55,685 35,007 32,743 - 37,768 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 50,000 n/a 25,455 45,000 
			 Kingston upon Thames 15,351 59,157 43,941 35,000 
			 Lambeth 38,807 44,159 46,756 n/a 
			 Lewisham 64,771 28,168 55,956 n/a 
			 Merton 43,062 25,943 47,693 n/a 
			 Newham 47,342 36,341 43,632 47,000 
			 Redbridge 29,272 35,932 30,900 n/a 
			 Richmond upon Thames 10,962 50,000 38,800 37,500 
			 Southwark 75,070 40,513 63,538 n/a 
			 Sutton 37,504 43,821 26,269 16,667 
			 Tower Hamlets 42,404 30,852 25,564 45,402 
			 Waltham Forest 45,797 34,307 54,294 n/a 
			 Wandsworth 30,859 41,370 42,416 n/a 
			 Westminster 55,901 44,978 49,364 51,250 
			 n/a = Indicates that no allocations have been provided in these boroughs.

Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the average rent paid on an  (a) two bedroom,  (b) three bedroom and  (c) four or more bedroom property is in (i) local authority and (ii) housing association property in each London borough; and what the real terms change has been since 2001-02.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is as follows:
	(i) Average local authority rents, in pounds per week, on two-, three- and four-bedroom dwellings in each London borough in 2005-06 are tabled as follows:
	
		
			  A—average rent 2005-06 
			  Bedroom:  Per week (£) 
			  Local authority  Two  Three  Four 
			 Barking and Dagenham 66.74 69.73 74.06 
			 Barnet 71.14 81.08 91.34 
			 Bexley LSVT LSVT LSVT 
			 Brent 78.15 90.02 101.9 
			 Bromley LSVT LSVT LSVT 
			 Camden 77.19 87.2 96.58 
			 City of London 69.81 75.27 78.71 
			 Croydon 74.55 90.08 104.27 
			 Ealing 73.5 82.45 102.74 
			 Enfield 72.5 81.89 93.1 
			 Greenwich 68.88 79.64 85.77 
			 Hackney 66.18 74.24 83.83 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 74.75 84.88 96.43 
			 Haringey 69.72 81.27 92.98 
			 Harrow 76.6 89.95 101.17 
			 Havering 58.36 72.09 83.79 
			 Hillingdon 81 96.07 101.74 
			 Hounslow 71.08 82.6 96.15 
			 Islington 75.42 82.62 97.68 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 85.09 92.97 109.62 
			 Kingston upon Thames 78.84 90.87 96.6 
			 Lambeth 72.09 83.41 91.67 
			 Lewisham 67.71 76.16 83.73 
			 Merton 73.12 83.1 91.76 
			 Newham 61.66 74.45 93.87 
			 Redbridge 75.85 86.62 99.29 
			 Richmond upon Thames LSVT LSVT LSVT 
			 Southwark 70.48 74.51 80.74 
			 Sutton n/a n/a n/a 
			 Tower Hamlets 73.86 84.47 94.49 
			 Waltham Forest 79.29 95.14 111.39 
			 Wandsworth 91.11 120.42 135.37 
			 Westminster 95.75 108.93 130.24 
			 n/a = data not available. Note:LSVT—the LA has fully undergone Large Scale Voluntary Transfer of its LA stock to RSLs Source:DCLG's unaudited Second Subsidy Claims Form 
		
	
	Figures on average local authority rents in 2001-02 are not held in a level of detail that is consistent with 2005-06 figures, so the real terms change from 2001-02 to 2005-06 cannot be calculated.
	(ii) Average registered social landlord rents, in pounds per week, on two-, three- and four-bedroom dwellings in each London borough in 2005-06 are tabled as follows. The real terms change in average weekly rent on two-, three- and four-bedroom dwellings in each London borough from 2001-02 to 2005-06 is also tabled:
	
		
			  Per week (£) 
			   RSL—average rent 2005-06  Change in rent since 2001-02 
			   Bedroom: 
			  Local authority  Two  Three  Four  Two  Three  Four 
			 Barking and Dagenham 76.07 82.86 91.09 0.55 0.12 -4.02 
			 Barnet 81.44 93.82 101.63 3.39 2.03 1.10 
			 Bexley 71.07 93.31 95.16 -1.50 -2.03 -1.62 
			 Brent 79.67 92.04 105.81 5.59 6.23 2.73 
			 Bromley 77.82 88.32 101.44 1.22 -0.55 -0.78 
			 Camden 84.82 94.57 110.13 6.76 1.22 -0.45 
			 City of London 75.74 87.24 n/a 8.18 8.29 n/a 
			 Croydon 80.97 92.53 105.00 0.50 -2.02 -2.86 
			 Ealing 83.31 97.87 107.73 7.99 7.78 3.40 
			 Enfield 78.49 91.81 104.61 3.86 3.41 2.16 
			 Greenwich 76.95 85.83 96.66 4.21 3.52 4.29 
			 Hackney 73.12 82.83 98.79 5.87 5.62 2.71 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 78.85 88.59 98.08 7.29 6.89 3.97 
			 Haringey 76.69 87.83 100.49 3.70 1.73 -1.94 
			 Harrow 78.04 91.36 104.90 -0.51 0.45 -0.60 
			 Havering 75.90 93.09 98.99 3.54 -0.85 -1.13 
			 Hillingdon 84.69 94.00 100.47 5.69 2.20 2.56 
			 Hounslow 81.06 89.04 98.68 4.23 1.96 -0.11 
			 Islington 76.55 85.17 102.12 6.46 5.18 5.13 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 77.41 86.86 100.18 8.41 7.83 5.39 
			 Kingston upon Thames 85.95 94.86 109.83 5.91 2.98 14.13 
			 Lambeth 70.73 81.87 95.19 2.48 2.47 2.42 
			 Lewisham 74.07 85.10 99.07 6.23 4.52 5.11 
			 Merton 79.53 89.49 97.10 3.07 1.21 2.87 
			 Newham 79.67 88.24 98.36 3.45 2.17 1.25 
			 Redbridge 80.68 93.25 103.85 0.83 -3.84 -4.18 
			 Richmond upon Thames 79.21 82.62 92.73 4.39 3.83 2.76 
			 Southwark 76.91 87.11 101.48 7.63 5.05 2.77 
			 Sutton 79.38 91.99 99.63 1.95 0.54 1.24 
			 Tower Hamlets 73.82 83.50 99.24 4.77 4.43 4.28 
			 Waltham Forest 75.69 88.73 99.76 2.78 -1.40 -4.57 
			 Wandsworth 83.56 95.25 104.41 7.05 6.01 3.75 
			 Westminster 85.30 93.42 102.87 6.69 5.52 -0.17 
			 n/a = data not available. Source:Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return (RSR)

Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new housing units in each London local authority were designated as housing for disabled people in each of the last three years.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally.
	As part of Capital Moves, the proposed Pan-London Choice Based Lettings and mobility scheme, the Greater London Authority are developing a pan-London Accessible Housing Register to better enable disabled people to find appropriate housing.

Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the average equity purchase was by people buying shared ownership properties in  (a) England,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London local authority in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what estimates she has made of the minimum household income required to enable a purchaser to buy a shared ownership property in  (a) England,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London local authority.

Yvette Cooper: The Department does not set minimum income limits for purchasers of shared ownership properties as this will vary depending on individual circumstances, including other outgoings and whether purchasers have a deposit. HomeBuy Agents, as appointed housing associations who handle the application process, will make an assessment based on the maximum share that individual purchasers can afford and sustain.
	The average gross household income of purchasers buying a shared ownership property in England in 2005-06 was £26,000.
	The average initial equity stake for shared ownership properties in England for the 2005-06 financial year is 49 per cent. Information for each region and for each London local authority is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Regional—average initial equity stake purchased 
			  Region  Average (percentage) 
			 London 50 
			 South East 46 
			 South West 47 
			 East Midlands 49 
			 East 49 
			 West Midlands 49 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 51 
			 North East 51 
			 North West 53 
			 Merseyside 59 
		
	
	
		
			  London boroughs—average initial equity stake purchased 
			  London boroughs  Average (percentage) 
			 Ealing 44 
			 Southwark 46 
			 Havering 54 
			 Lewisham 59 
			 Bexley 65 
			 Greenwich 44 
			 Tower Hamlets 45 
			 Hounslow 44 
			 Bromley 64 
			 Newham 44 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 41 
			 Wandsworth 44 
			 City of London — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 39 
			 Croydon 53 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 50 
			 Harrow 43 
			 Barnet 42 
			 Lambeth 54 
			 Sutton 60 
			 Enfield 48 
			 Hillingdon 49 
			 Brent 45 
			 Merton 65 
			 Hackney 49 
			 Waltham Forest 51 
			 Islington 32 
			 Redbridge 52 
			 Camden 43 
			 Westminster 43 
			 Haringey 50 
			 Barking and Dagenham 42 
			 Kingston upon Thames 57 
			  Note: All information provided by CORE data 2005-06.

Housing

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) social rented homes and  (b) shared ownership homes were built in Reading in each year since 1990.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows homes provided for social rent and shared ownership in Reading through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme, Local Authority Social Housing Grant and Starter Home Initiative.
	
		
			   Social rent  Shared ownership 
			 1991-92 89 0 
			 1992-93 207 11 
			 1993-94 91 13 
			 1994-95 170 25 
			 1995-96 361 66 
			 1996-97 254 31 
			 1997-98 127 31 
			 1998-99 240 64 
			 1999-2000 79 1 
			 2000-01 49 8 
			 2001-02 109 18 
			 2002-03 94 104 
			 2003-04 86 121 
			 2004-05 146 143 
			 2005-06 43 36 
			 2006-08 193 72 
		
	
	These figures include both new build and acquisition and refurbishment.
	Figures for 2006-08 are indicative and based on allocations made by the Housing Corporation in their 2006-08 Affordable Housing Programme. This does not include shared ownerships and social rented homes funded entirely through Section 106. Nor does it include English Partnership's first time buyers programme.

Business Improvement District Legislation

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to ensure that the rights of property owners are protected in the Business Improvement District legislation.

Phil Woolas: Under the Business Improvement District (BID) legislation the occupiers of business property vote in a BID ballot and are liable to pay BID levy if the ballot is successful. Property owners may make voluntary contributions , either financial or in-kind, to the development and implementations of a BID, but do not vote in the ballot and are not liable for the levy. Owners' rights in respect of their properties are not affected by the BID legislation.

Climate Change

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on ways in which local authorities can more effectively tackle climate change.

Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government met my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 10 October in the context of the forthcoming Local Government White Paper for a wide ranging discussion which covered the role of authorities in tackling environmental issues.

Council Tax

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the annual change was in the level of council tax in each London borough in each year since 1996-97; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The annual percentage change in the level of council tax by each district council in each London borough since 1996-97 are tabled as follows. Figures are based solely on the borough's element of the bill, which excludes the precepting amount from the Greater London Authority.
	
		
			  Annual percentage change in the level of council tax by each London borough since 1996-97( 1) 
			  Authority  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02 
			 Barking and Dagenham 8.8 9.4 8.7 5.3 4.5 5.5 
			 Barnet 6.9 3.0 8.3 3.8 5.5 4.6 
			 Bexley 4.2 5.5 10.5 7.7 5.3 7.6 
			 Brent -3.3 22.5 4.4 16.4 7.6 5.2 
			 Bromley 9.6 6.2 2.9 10.1 8.4 10.3 
			 Camden 14.6 1.4 9.5 1.4 -1.3 4.3 
			 City of London 4.0 4.8 8.3 4.3 3.2 4.4 
			 Croydon 2.8 3.9 9.7 9.7 4.8 -1.7 
			 Ealing 2.6 9.0 8.6 9.5 5.8 6.2 
			 Enfield 5.4 1.8 5.0 7.5 7.4 8.8 
			 Greenwich 19.6 6.8 6.9 -0.9 -2.6 2.3 
			 Hackney 10.5 -9.2 -2.9 -1.0 4.8 10.0 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 19.0 8.4 -1.9 4.5 4.5 4.6 
			 Haringey 3.0 5.0 1.9 4.4 2.0 0.0 
			 Harrow 3.4 15.2 6.9 8.8 6.9 8.0 
			 Havering 8.7 9.1 9.7 9.1 6.6 10.7 
			 Hillingdon 3.8 4.3 11.3 8.4 6.4 8.5 
			 Hounslow 7.7 3.0 4.0 8.9 6.8 9.1 
			 Islington 16.1 1.8 2.6 -0.8 -5.6 -2.8 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3.0 0.8 0.8 7.5 5.0 13.1 
			 Kingston upon Thames 4.6 6.3 8.8 13.2 7.5 7.5 
			 Lambeth -1.0 -3.8 -3.8 -2.2 -1.1 14.3 
			 Lewisham 6.0 3.1 2.3 6.6 8.4 10.2 
			 Merton 5.8 6.8 6.1 4.3 9.1 7.7 
			 Newham 2.8 8.1 3.0 2.8 7.6 4.9 
			 Redbridge 4.1 6.8 6.3 11.3 6.7 4.5 
			 Richmond upon Thames 4.1 3.3 0.4 9.5 7.7 7.9 
			 Southwark 27.4 0.8 4.0 2.3 2.5 6.1 
			 Sutton 4.0 4.8 9.7 6.3 4.5 7.3 
			 Tower Hamlets 17.0 -2.1 0.0 1.6 5.9 7.3 
			 Waltham Forest 10.5 11.6 -3.7 2.5 2.6 3.0 
			 Wandsworth -1.3 -6.8 -35.2 21.5 3.2 16.7 
			 Westminster 9.0 -1.3 4.0 8.7 2.3 10.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Authority  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Barking and Dagenham 5.7 11.7 5.5 3.5 3.5 
			 Barnet 2.5 22.8 6.8 1.9 2.0 
			 Bexley 4.5 14.9 7.5 4.7 3.9 
			 Brent 8.5 20.8 5.8 3.3 2.2 
			 Bromley 4.5 6.0 6.8 4.9 4.0 
			 Camden 4.1 12.1 2.8 2.0~ 1.9 
			 City of London 5.3 17.3 5.9 4.5 4.6 
			 Croydon 1.0 26.8 7.2 5.0 4.4 
			 Ealing 5.7 25.1 6.8 4.8 2.5 
			 Enfield 6.4 15.0 5.9 2.4 2.5 
			 Greenwich 2.6 10.8 4.1 2.9 0.9 
			 Hackney 10.0 10.0 4.9 1.9 0.0 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0.0 9.8 4.9 1.5 1.5 
			 Haringey 0.0 17.4 7.2 4.9 2.5 
			 Harrow 6.0 19.8 3.3 0.7 2.5 
			 Havering 6.8 14.9 5.2 2.9 1.7 
			 Hillingdon 7.6 13.5 4.8 3.9 2.9 
			 Hounslow 5.5 12.7 6.8 4.4 2.3 
			 Islington -4.5 19.0 5.0 4.2 0.0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 9.3 13.9 4.7 3.5 0.1 
			 Kingston upon Thames 11.3 12.6 7.0 5.0 3.6 
			 Lambeth 7.8 21.1 5.0 4.0 0.0 
			 Lewisham 7.9 9.4 5.0 4.9 2.5 
			 Merton 5.4 8.9 5.3 2.5 2.5 
			 Newham 5.0 9.8 4.8 4.8 1.9 
			 Redbridge 5.1 12.9 5.5 4.7 3.8 
			 Richmond upon Thames 8.9 13,1 5.2 3.1 0.0 
			 Southwark 3.7 4.3 2.4 1.8 0.0 
			 Sutton 8.2 11.9 7.4 4.8 3.9 
			 Tower Hamlets 2.0 14.0 4.7 4.0 0.0 
			 Waltham Forest 3.6 17.5 6.0 4.6 2.5 
			 Wandsworth -25.0 57.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Westminster 4.6 27.5 5.2 -0.1 1.9 
			 (1) Figures are based solely on the London borough's element of the bill, which excludes the precepting amount from the Greater London Authority.

Departmental Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by  (a) her Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold the information in the form requested which can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House. Information for the financial year 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year.
	All expenditure is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and the Civil Service Management Code.

Digital Challenge

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether ethnic monitoring  (a) has been and  (b) will be undertaken in respect of Digital Challenge (i) shortlisted and (ii) successful bids;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to ensure ethnic minorities are fully involved in Digital Challenge bids;
	(3)  how many ethnic minority organisations are involved in Digital Challenge bids;
	(4)  what the criteria are for consideration of Digital Challenge bids.

Phil Woolas: Digital Challenge bids were shortlisted according to a number of criteria, including a focus on "socially excluded" groups. In evaluating bids, a focus on ethnic minority groups was not included as a specific criterion, as the effective use of ICT and benefits of digital inclusion cut across the sub-divisions of socially excluded populations including ethnic minority groups. Further information on the 79 proposals received and an analysis is available on the Digital Challenge website:
	www.digitalchallenge.gov.uk.
	The Digital Challenge Outline Prospectus made it clear to all bidders submitting proposals that bids should be inclusive and representative of their local communities. We have created an opportunity for organisations, including those representing ethnic minorities, to become engaged in the Digital Challenge process through the Digital Challenge Community Network (DCCN), an interdependent network for public, private, voluntary and academe to rise to the challenge of using ICT and Innovation as enablers of digital and social inclusion. Further information on the network and the original prospectus are published on the Digital Challenge website.
	It is not possible to definitively state the number of ethnic minority organisations involved in the Digital Challenge process. However, each of the remaining 10 bidders are actively engaging and working with ethnic minority organisations.
	The full criteria for the Digital Challenge bids have been provided to all the 10 and are published on the Digital Challenge website at:
	http://www.digitalchallenge.gov.uk/top-ten-finalists-1/top-ten-finalists-1/guidance-on-submitting-your-bid.

EU Business Support

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much EU funding was spent on small and medium-sized enterprises in the last period for which figures are available for  (a) the South East England Development Agency and  (b) all regional development agencies.

Phil Woolas: My Department is responsible for the implementation of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in England, one of the European Structural Funds, targeted at EU regions whose economic development is lagging behind.
	For the current round of ERDF programmes from 2000-06, £497,630,629 ERDF grant has been awarded to English RDAs from the mainstream programmes, of which £1,562,471 has been awarded to the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).
	Of the other two main Structural Funds, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for the Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).
	I can report on behalf of the DWP, that £48,974,962 ESF has been granted to RDAs, which covers the three RDAs which are the co-financing organisations for ESF, including SEEDA. Of this, £13,691,402 has been awarded to SEEDA.
	I can also report on behalf of Defra, that no EAGGF funds have been allocated to RDAs in any of the three regions which receive that fund.

Household Projections

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many additional households were attributable to migration in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2004; what estimate the Government had previously made of additional households attributable to migration in these years for the purpose of household projections; and what plans she has to adjust future household projections to 2026 to take account of the actual level of migration in 2003 and 2004.

Yvette Cooper: DCLG household projections which are used to estimate future housing requirements are based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population projections. The assumptions about international migration, in these are then translated into the DCLG household projections. The migration from the eight accession countries is not accounted for separately.
	The DCLG 2003 based household projections show a projected increase in households in England between 2003 and 2006 of 580,000 of which 105,000 (18 per cent.) is attributable to net migration.
	The 2003 based household projections were based on the ONS 2003 based population projections that assumed a long term net migration into the UK of 130,000 per year. ONS has subsequently released 2004 based population projections that involve an assumed long term figure of 145,000 per year. This latest projection also includes higher short term figures in order to take account of A8. The Department for Communities and Local Government plans to produce updated household projections that take account of the 2004 based population projections.

Housing Act

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many final Empty Dwelling Management Orders under the Housing Act 2004 the Government expects to be granted; what extra resources are planned to be allocated to residential property tribunals for hearing EDMO cases; under what circumstances a property owner will be able to ask for a final EDMO to be lifted within the seven year period; what rights a property owner has in respect of a local housing authority which is not managing a property which is subject to an EDMO to a reasonable standard; whether a local housing authority will be able to charge a reasonable management fee; and what rights neighbours will have in respect of tenants of a property subject to an EDMO in cases of anti-social behaviour.

Yvette Cooper: We do not know how many Empty Dwelling Management Orders will be made in practice since they have been introduced as many local authorities are finding them a helpful backstop which encourages greater voluntary action to bring properties back into use.
	An additional £1 million is being made available annually to the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) to cover its new jurisdictions under the Housing Act 2004.
	A property owner may at any time ask for a final EDMO to be revoked early by the council. If the council refuses to revoke the order, the property owner can appeal to the RPTS. A local authority may revoke the order if it concludes: there are no steps which it could appropriately take to secure occupation of the dwelling; that keeping the order in force is not necessary; it is satisfied the dwelling will become either or continue to be occupied despite the revocation; it is satisfied the dwelling will be sold; it would be appropriate to revoke the order to prevent or stop interference with the rights of a third party; a further final EDMO will be made to replace the existing order; or in any other circumstances the local authority consider it would be appropriate to revoke the order.
	A local authority must take such steps it considers appropriate when an Empty Dwelling Management Order is in force to ensure proper management of the dwelling. A final EDMO must contain a management scheme setting out how the local authority intends to manage the property. A property owner may apply to the residential property tribunal for an order requiring the authority to manage the dwelling in accordance with the scheme.
	A local authority is not restricted in setting a management fee in respect of a dwelling subject to an EDMO and would seek to recover its fees (or those of its appointed manager) from any rental income accrued from letting the dwelling.
	Neighbouring property owners would be entitled to complain to the local authority about the behaviour of tenants of a property subject to an EDMO in the same way they would be entitled to complain to any property manager.

International GCSE

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department recognises the International GCSE as an acceptable substitute for a GCSE for the purposes of recruitment.

Angela Smith: My Department recognises the International GCSE but is accepted only from those countries which come under the civil service nationality rules. It is accepted from nationals of European Economic Area member states, members of the Commonwealth and Swiss nationals who have the right to work in the UK.

Land Use

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities which have introduced technology which is able fully to interact with the National Land Information Service.

Phil Woolas: The National Land Information Service (NLIS) is a system allowing land and property searches to be made electronically speeding up the conveyancing process. As at April 2006, all local authorities can accept searches via NLIS. Over 100 authorities can accept the delivery of searches straight into their Local Land Charges system, i.e. they can fully interact with NLIS.

Landlords

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many registered social landlord (RSL) homes were sold in 2005-06, broken down by  (a) RSL and  (b) local authority area.

Yvette Cooper: Sales of the numbers of registered social landlord (RSLs) homes to sitting tenants for RSLs operating in England are collected by the Regulatory and Statistical Return of the Housing Corporation and can be analysed by RSL or local authority. The Regulatory and Statistical Return Long form is only completed by those RSLs that own more than 250 dwellings and bedspaces. The return is split into 12 parts with only two parts containing information across local authority areas. Therefore not all the information about RSL sales to sitting tenants is available at local authority level.
	Information has been placed in the Library of the House as follows:
	Table 1 shows sales to sitting tenants in 2005-06 by RSLs for only those RSLs that reported sales. Split into those sales there were Right to Buy/Right to Acquire and all other sales to sitting tenants; Source: Part K Housing Corporation Regulatory and Statistical Return (long) 2006.
	Table 2 shows for all local authorities irrespective of whether or not sales were reported in their area the number of Right to Buy/Right to Acquire sales in 2005-06; Source: Part O Housing Corporation Regulatory and Statistical Return (long) 2006.
	There were four Right to Buy/Right to Acquire sales in Scotland in 2005-06 included in Table 1.

Online Services

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what levels of take-up have been of online services since the Connect to Your Council campaign was instigated, broken down by local authority.

Phil Woolas: Among internet users, market research figures show that people accessing council websites has risen by 88 per cent. from 1 in 11 pre-campaign to 1 in 6 post campaign. The level of online service take-up since the commencement of the campaign broken down by individual local authority is not recorded, but independent evidence from both the Society of Information Technology Management's (SOCITM) and web traffic monitoring company Hitwise show Directgov accounting for 10 per cent. of total visits to local authority websites in June. Copies of the Central Office of Information (COI) evaluation report on the impact of the first burst of the campaign are available from the Department for Communities and Local Government website.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the arrangements are for the payment of pensions to people who retire early through ill-health for each pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; what the incidence of ill-health retirement was as a percentage of all retirement in such schemes in each year since 1988-89; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the current rate of ill-health retirement is for each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The information is as follows.
	 Local Government Pension Scheme
	Under the current provisions of the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales, ill-health retirement benefits are paid to scheme members who cease a local government, or comparable employment, by reason of permanent ill-health or infirmity of mind or body. The benefits are enhanced incrementally depending on the length of scheme membership.
	The incidence of ill-health retirement in the scheme, as a percentage of all retirements since 2000-01 is shown in the following table. Information before 2000-01 is not held centrally.
	
		
			   Ill-health retirements  All retirements  Ill-health retirements as percentage of total 
			 2000-01 10,611 41,360 26 
			 2001-02 9,805 36,741 27 
			 2002-03 7,515 34,855 22 
			 2003-04 6,784 37,373 18 
			 2004-05 6,079 38,964 16 
			 2005-06 5,213 40,083 13+ 
		
	
	 Firefighters Pension Scheme
	Prior to September 2004, a member of the Firefighters Pension Scheme 1992 was entitled to an ill-health retirement pension if permanently disabled from engaging in firefighting. Thereafter, the scheme was amended to limit the entitlement to a person who is permanently unfit for engaging in firefighting or performing other duties appropriate to his role as a firefighter, other than or in addition to engaging in firefighting.
	The 1992 Pension Scheme was further amended in July 2006 to introduce two tier ill-health retirement arrangements. A person is entitled to an upper tier award if incapable of undertaking regular work. Regular employment is defined as meaning employment for 30 hours a week on average over a period of not less than 12 consecutive months. The accrued pension is enhanced. The pension of a person with a lower tier award is not enhanced.
	Similar provisions will apply in the New Firefighters Pension Scheme 2006.
	In the period 1994-99, the incidence of ill-health retirements as a percentage of all retirements was 68 per cent. From 1999-2000 to 2004-05 the figures were as shown as follows. Figures for 2005-06 are not yet available.
	It is expected that due to the scheme amendments outlined above, figures for 2005-06 and 2006-07 will show a continuing substantial decline.
	
		
			  Ill-health retirements for regular firefighters in England 
			   Ill-health retirements  Percentage 
			 1999-2000 547 51.7 
			 2000-01 565 54.5 
			 2001-02 437 43.7 
			 2002-03 554 42.8 
			 2003-04 485 46.5 
			 2004-05 323 24.7

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what savings estimate she has made of the effect on costs of the reforms to public sector pensions agreed with trades unions in 2005 for each year between 2006-07 and 2050-51; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The changes made this year to the Local Government Pension Schemes after extensive consultations with major stakeholders will produce savings of some 2.5 per cent. to 3 per cent. of pensionable payroll. Some 50 per cent. of this saving is being used to provide either transitional protection or is being recycled into a new-look scheme for scheme members, planned to come into force from 1 April 2008.
	The pension arrangements for firelighters were also reviewed outside the Public Service Forum and details of the new arrangements aimed at modernising and tackling the high cost and inflexibility of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 1992 were announced on 8 September 2005, in Firefighters' Pension Scheme circular 2/2005, following public consultation.
	The new arrangements which were implemented for entrants to the fire and rescue service from 6 April are estimated to cost 22.7 per cent. of pensionable pay compared with 37.5 per cent. from the 1992 scheme.

Slave Trade

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will announce her plans to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

Meg Munn: The Government are working with stakeholders to develop plans to mark the 200(th) anniversary of the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
	The 2007 Bicentenary Advisory Group met on 17 October and the Government will be making an announcement in due course about their plans to mark the Bicentenary.
	Preparations in central Government are well under way and there will be a number of activities to ensure the Bicentenary is properly recognised.
	The Advisory Group will galvanise action across cultural, faith and community sectors to ensure that 2007 makes an impact across the country and that the bicentenary is relevant to local communities.

Stronger and Prosperous Communities White Paper

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the 200 outcome based indicators referred to in the Stronger and Prosperous Communities White Paper.

Phil Woolas: The Local Government White Paper "Strong and Prosperous Communities", published on 26 October, set out our aim to radically reduce the number of nationally-set performance indicators which local government must report to central Government. The content of the single set of around 200 national indicators will be determined through the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review process.

Tenant Referencing

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of local authority tenant referencing schemes in tackling antisocial behaviour in communities with a high proportion of private sector landlords.

Yvette Cooper: The Department encourages local authorities to work constructively with private landlords, it is for each local authority to decide how best it works with private landlords on tenant management issues and assess the effectiveness of any scheme it puts in place locally.

Thames Gateway

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings officials in her Department had with  (a) Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership,  (b) Thames Gateway Kent Partnership and  (c) Thames Gateway London Partnership during 2006; which officials were in attendance; which other organisations were represented at the meetings; and if she will place the minutes of the meetings in the Library.

Yvette Cooper: During the course of 2006 the following formal board meetings have taken place, at which DCLG officials have been in attendance. The meetings are listed with officials who attended as follows:
	 (a) Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership (TGSEP) has held three board meetings
	8 February—DCLG Hulya Mustafa
	29 March—DCLG Hulya Mustafa
	10 May—DCLG Elizabeth Cowie, Jeff Channing
	 (b) Thames Gateway Kent Partnership (TGKP) has held two board meetings
	28 February—DCLG Ben Stoneman
	23 May—DCLG Ros Dunn, Andy De Lord and Ben Stoneman
	30 June—Discussion on the Thames Gateway Strategic Framework, DCLG Ros Dunn
	 (c) Thames Gateway London Partnership (TGLP) has held two board meeting
	21 February—DCLG Jey Jeyaraj
	27 June—Jey Jeyaraj
	These meetings have core board members plus guest speakers which vary from meeting to meeting. The following organisations have been present at the meetings in 2006.
	 (a) TGSEP: Essex County Council, Baker Tilly, Castle Point Borough Council, Thurrock Council, Rochford District Council, GO East, Thurrock PCT, TTGDC, Basildon District Council, Finishing Line, Southend Borough Council, Greengrid Partnership, LSC, Social Regeneration Forum, Renaissance Southend.
	 (b) TGKP: Environment Agency, Highways Agency, Medway Council, Swale Borough Council, Sport England South East, Culture Thames Gateway, TGKP CE, Swale Forward, Kent County Council, Genecon, Kent Thameside Delivery Board, Press, Gravesham Borough Council.
	 (c) TGLP: London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, and also SELSHA, Goldsmiths University, ECCIC, and TfL.
	Minutes of meetings for this year will be placed in the House Library for TGKP and TGLP, and minutes from the 19 July 2006 onwards will be placed in the Library of
	the House.
	As part of their normal business, DCLG officials have also spoken with and met a number of representatives from all three partnerships.

Travellers' Sites

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the letter of 11 October 2006 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn) to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner), what the evidential basis is for her statement that local authority Travellers' sites are accepted as a part of their local communities.

Meg Munn: The Department's Gypsy and Traveller Unit has extensive contact with local authorities and others who are responsible for socially rented Gypsy and Traveller caravan sites. They report many examples of well managed and maintained sites where the residents live alongside the settled community with no reported tensions. There are numerous examples of site residents becoming involved in local events and, for example, participating in neighbourhood watch schemes. Where tensions with the settled community do occur in particular cases, the Government has provided strong powers for local authorities to address unauthorised camping and antisocial behaviour. It would be wrong to allow a few high profile cases to distort the overall picture.

Departmental Expenditure

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on its press office in each year since 1999  (a) in total and  (b) per press officer.

David Cairns: The figures are as follows:
	
		
			   Cost( 1)  (£)  Cost per press officer( 2)  (£) 
			 1999-2000(3) 44,078 11,019 
			 2000-01 178,236 44,559 
			 2001-02 157,826 39,456 
			 2002-03 162,021 40,505 
			 2003-04 136,932 45,644 
			 2004-05 131,149 43,716 
			 2005-06 122,375 61,187 
			 (1) This includes expenditure that can be directly attributable to the press office, such as salaries, overtime, ERNIC, on-call allowances, travel and press cuttings service; it does not include overhead costs, such as accommodation, utilities and corporate services, which are paid centrally.  (2) The cost per press officer is obtained by dividing the total cost each year by the number of press officers in post at 31 March at the end of the relevant year. It does not therefore reflect any variations in the number of press officers during each year.  (3) Part-year cost from 1 July 1999, when the office was created, to 31 March 2000.

Departmental Redundancies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many redundancies there were in his Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of such redundancies was in each such year; how many temporary staff were employed in each such year; and how many staff were seconded by outside organisations to the Department in each such year.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established in July 1999; since this date there have been no redundancies from the Office.
	The information on temporary staff is shown in the table. The figures relate to the total number of temporary staff—sometimes reflecting several such temporary staff filling posts in succession. They do not reflect the total number of posts filled by temporary staff.
	
		
			   Number 
			  Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland  
			 1999-2000 13 
			 2000-01 16 
			 2001-02 19 
			 2002-03 15 
			 2003-04 20 
			 2004-05 6 
			   
			  Scotland Office  
			 2005-06 0 
			   
			  Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland  
			 2005-06 7 
			  Note: Prior to 2005-06, separate figures were not maintained for SO and OAG. 
		
	
	One individual was seconded in 2001 and three were seconded in 2002 from outside organisations.

Ministerial Travel

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel in his Office.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office subscribes to the principles of environmental performance adopted by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given today by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Al-Qaeda

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many organisations found to have links with al-Qaeda have had their assets frozen; how much has been frozen in total; how much of this has been returned to legitimate authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: A total of 359 individuals and 124 organisations suspected of having links with al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been designated by the UN Sanctions Committee, the EU and the UK Government.
	Financial assets frozen in the UK under the al-Qaeda and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2002 total approximately £560,866, of which £85,337 belongs to organisations.
	The fight against terrorist financing is an international issue that has been successful in freezing 94 million USD across 34 countries.
	The asset freezing regime is designed to prevent funds, economic resources and financial services being made available to anyone who is designated under the order on suspicion of involvement with terrorism and does not include a power to seize assets.

Call Centres

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 1801-2W, on call centres, how many and what proportion of calls to his Department and its agencies in  (a) 2003-04,  (b) 2004-05,  (c) 2005-06 and  (d) 2006-07 were (i) handled by an adviser, (ii) received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone in each year, broken down by line of business;
	(2)  how many calls to HM Revenue and Customs helplines received an engaged tone in each month from 1 April to 31 October.

Dawn Primarolo: The requested data is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost

Carers

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how many carers between  (a) five and 15 and  (b) 16 and 18-years-old in (i) England, (ii) Hemel Hempstead and (iii) the Dacorum borough council area are providing unpaid care.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 November 2006:
	The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking how many carers  (a) under the age of 18 years and  (b) between five and 15 years in (i) England, (ii) Kernel Hempstead and (iii) Dacorum borough councils area are providing unpaid care. I am replying in her absence. (100206)
	The table below shows the number of people aged between 0-17 and 5-15 in  (a) England,  (b) Hemel Hempstead parliamentary constituency (PC) and  (c) Dacorum borough council (BC) who on Census day (29 April 2001) were providing unpaid care. Data for Hemel Hempstead PC has been extracted from the 2001 Census database; data for both England and Dacorum borough council have been taken from table S025 in "Census 2001 National Report for England and Wales pt 1" which is available in the House of Commons Library.
	
		
			  All people in households—England 
			   All people providing unpaid care 
			  Area  0-17  5-15 
			 England 139,199 90,431 
			 Hemel Hempstead PC 250 166 
			 Dacorum BC 325 215 
			  Sources:2001 Census data and table S025 in Census 2001 National Report for England and Wales pt 1

Child Benefit

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of uprating child benefit in line with average earnings in each year from 2007-08 to 2012-13; what assessment he has made of the effect that uprating would have on child poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The cost of uprating child benefit in line with average earnings for each year from 2007-08 to 2012-13 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Cost of uprating child benefit in line with average earnings: 2007-08 to 2012-13 
			   Cost (£ million) 
			 2007-08 200 
			 2008-09 400 
			 2009-10 600 
			 2010-11 900 
			 2011-12 1,100 
			 2012-13 1,400 
		
	
	The Government do not produce a forecast for average earnings growth to 2012-13, so for this analysis we have assumed earnings growth in line with the estimated trend growth in labour productivity. See "Budget 2006", Table B2. We have further assumed growth of retail prices in line with the projections published in "Budget 2006", Table C3.
	Uprating child benefit by earnings for a period of six years would amount to a cumulative increase of around 12 per cent. compared with uprating by prices. Based on a 60 per cent. contemporary median income threshold, it is estimated that a similar real terms increase implemented today could lower child poverty by between 130,000 and 160,000, depending on the choice of equivalisation scale for household incomes.

Child Trust Funds

Denis Murphy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child trust fund vouchers have been issued for children born in  (a) the UK and  (b) Wansbeck constituency; and how many have resulted in accounts being opened in each case.

Stephen Timms: The latest set of child trust fund statistics showing UK-wide information was published by HM Revenue and Customs on 29 September at www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_trust_funds/child-trust-funds.htm—these show that over 75 per cent. of parents are using their child's voucher to open a child trust fund account.
	Child trust fund information at constituency level would currently be available only at disproportionate cost. However, it is anticipated that this information should become available later this year.

Debt Collection

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been recovered by debt collectors in his Departments in each of the last five years for which information is available, broken down by  (a) Department and  (b) the tax the recovery related to; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The amount of tax and duty recovered by the debt recovery arm of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is included in the figures recorded in HMRC's Annual Report 2004-05 and Autumn Performance Report 2005.
	Prior to the merger of Inland Revenue and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise the figures were recorded separately in each Department's Annual Report and Accounts.

Debt Collection

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees in each of his departments worked on debt collection in each of the last five years for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: In April 2005 the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise merged to form Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Debt Management and Banking (DMB) is the arm of HMRC responsible for recovery of debt. In the last five years the DMB joint staffing allocation (in full-time equivalent terms) has been:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001-02 9,204 
			 2002-03 8,934 
			 2003-04 9,319 
			 2004-05 9,726 
			 2005-06 9,321 
		
	
	HMRC has taken on new work over recent years and that has affected the staffing profile while resources have had to be used flexibly to support HMRC's work, but on average about 75 per cent. of the above numbers have been directly involved in debt recovery.

Departmental Employees

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Department's staff were  (a) under 20,  (b) 21 to 30,  (c) 31 to 40,  (d) 41 to 50,  (e) 51 to 60 and  (f) over 60 year of age (i) in 1997 and (ii) in the last 12 months.

John Healey: The number of staff in the HM Treasury by age are as follows:
	
		
			  Age  April 1997  April 2006 
			 Under 20 1 15 
			 21-30 289 440 
			 31-40 297 340 
			 41-50 201 241 
			 51-60 107 115 
			 Over 60 18 2

Departmental Expenditure

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department subsidises its refreshment facilities for staff.

John Healey: Under the agreement negotiated with contractors at the time of the opening of 1 Horse Guards road the catering facilities in Treasury will be subsidised until 2008-09.

Departmental Expenditure

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on  (a) stationery and  (b) other promotional merchandise branded with his Department's name in the last three years.

John Healey: The Treasury's accounting system does not distinguish between branded and non-branded stationery. The Treasury's total spending on stationery in the last three financial years were as follows. The Department's accounting system does record spending on promotional merchandise as a separate category.
	
		
			   £000 
			 2003-04 308 
			 2004-05 264 
			 2005-06 258

Departmental IT

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of information technology projects undertaken by or for his Department since 2001 have been delivered  (a) over budget,  (b) after their original deadline,  (c) on budget,  (d) under budget,  (e) on their original deadline and  (f) ahead of their original deadline.

John Healey: The majority of information technology projects undertaken by or for HM Treasury were completed on time and on budget. 11 of the 16 projects undertaken since 2001 were completed to budget, with two coming in under budget and only three exceeding their budgets. The increase in the cost of these three projects was due to unforeseen increases in complexity and scope of the projects being undertaken. 10 of the projects were completed to their original deadlines and of the six projects completed after their deadline, three were completed within weeks of their intended deadline and the extra time taken for one project resulted in cost savings.

Earning Statistics

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was earned on average by the  (a) tenth,  (b) fiftieth,  (c) ninetieth and  (d) ninety-fifth percentile of the working population in current prices in each year since 1992.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 November 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how much was earned on average by the (a) tenth, (b) fiftieth, (c) ninetieth and (d) ninety-fifth percentile of the working population at current prices. I am replying in her absence. (100238)
	Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	The attached table contains statistics on earnings percentiles from the ASHE for 2006 for all employees and for full time employees.
	The ASHE, earned out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold.
	
		
			  Gross weekly pay for employee jobs( 1) : United Kingdom, 2006 
			  £ 
			   Percentiles 
			   10  50 (Median)  90  95 
			 All employees 110 364 800 1,023 
			 Full-time employees 244 447 886 1,138 
			 (1 )Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent., we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220. All estimates have a CV of less than 5 per cent.   Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Firearms

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the merits of introducing a new Public Service Agreement target on tackling the illegal importation of firearms; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs has concluded a public service agreement with objectives and performance targets for delivery by 2007-08. The current public service agreement does include a target for the conclusion and fulfilment of Service Level Agreements for all prohibitions and restrictions. A Service Level Agreement has been concluded for firearms and a process is in place for assessing the extent to which HM Revenue and Customs' has fulfilled its responsibilities.

Fuel Smuggling

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many vehicles in Northern Ireland were detected illegally running on red diesel in the period between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006;
	(2)  what percentage of fuel smuggling related detections in Northern Ireland made between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 were made by  (a) the Police Service Northern Ireland and  (b) HM Revenue and Customs;
	(3)  how many vehicles were seized by the authorities in Northern Ireland between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 as a result of being used for smuggling cross border fuel; what the total amount of fuel seized from these vehicles was; how many arrests were made in such seizures; and how many convictions were secured as a result of these arrests.

John Healey: HMRC work with a number of different agencies to tackle fuel fraud, including the Police Service Northern Ireland, which has led to a 28 per cent. reduction in the non-UK duty paid market in Northern Ireland since the introduction of the Oils Strategy. Details of detections, vehicles seized, fuel seized and prosecutions for 2004-05 can be found in the Annual Report available on the HMRC website. Figures for 2005-06 will be published later this year. All operational data relates to HMRC only and not to any other agencies.

Fuel Smuggling

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of HM Revenue and Customs staff in Northern Ireland are involved in oil-related anti-smuggling work;
	(2)  what percentage of  (a) time and  (b) resources of HM Revenue and Customs in Northern Ireland were allocated to tackling illegal fuel smuggling in the last period for which figures are available.

John Healey: In April 2005 there were 2,500 staff employed by HMRC in Northern Ireland, 159 of which were working to tackle the illegal fuel trade. This equates to 6 per cent. of total HMRC resource in Northern Ireland and is used to tackle all forms of fuel fraud including smuggling. The staff employed by HMRC are deployed across a wide range of activities including over 20 different taxes and payments, protecting the UK's frontier, and facilitating trade across those frontiers, fighting smuggling, terrorism, fraud and drugs as well as enforcing the national minimum wage and managing student loans.

Guardian's Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the guardian's allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) on 10 October 2006,  Official Report, column 725W.

HM Revenue and Customs

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was of the HM Revenue and Customs corporate and social responsibility conference of 24 October 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC's Corporate Responsibility Summit of 24 October brought together 100 business leaders from across the public, private and voluntary sectors to discuss what is needed to generate greater cross-sector collaboration and sustainable social change.
	The costs incurred total £7,393.02 for printing, catering, photography and admin charges.

Home Computer Initiative

David Lepper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made with the Confederation of British Industry in developing a scheme to replace the home computer initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are undertaking specific and targeted fiscal interventions to address its digital inclusion strategy. These interventions include:
	£50 million over the next two years (2006-07 and 2007-08) for schools to invest in home access to IGT for their students;
	a further £10 million (£5 million/£5 million) to provide Internet connectivity to the home access network;
	and in SR2004 period we are spending £25 million on UK online centres. Now over 6,000 online centres in the UK, over half of which are located in the 2,000 most deprived wards in England. So that 95 per cent. of the population live within 5 kilometres of one.
	More broadly, the Government's policies of competition and liberalisation, underpinned by an effective regulatory regime, have led to greater choice and lower prices for consumers and have led to a situation where over 99 per cent. of the UK have access to broadband, and the number of broadband connections has doubled in the past two years to over 10 million and is continuing to grow rapidly.

Income Statistics

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the median income in real terms was in  (a) the UK,  (b) England,  (c) Wales,  (d) Scotland and  (e) Northern Ireland for each year since 1992.

Dawn Primarolo: The information on median income of taxpayers in 2005-06 prices for 1996-97 to 2003-04 is given in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   UK  England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland 
			 1996-97 15,700 15,800 14,000 15,700 14,300 
			 1997-98 16,000 16,100 14,600 16,000 14,400 
			 1998-99 16,100 16,300 14,400 15,600 14,400 
			 1999-2000 16,700 16,800 15,600 16,100 15,000 
			 2000-01 16,600 16,900 14,700 16,100 15,100 
			 2001-02 17,200 17,400 16,000 16,900 15,600 
			 2002-03 17,200 17,400 15,700 16,500 15,500 
			 2003-04 16,900 17,200 15,400 16,400 15,600 
		
	
	Figures are obtained from the Survey of Personal Incomes of which 2003-04 is the latest available.
	Geographical level information is unavailable prior to 1996-97 due to small sample sizes.
	Estimates may be subject to sampling error due to year-on-year sampling variation in the survey. Estimates for later years should be more accurate and subject to less sampling variation, due to the sample size of the survey increasing from around 75,000 in 1996-97 to over 400,000 by 2002-03.
	Similar information including non-taxpayers is unavailable.

Investigation Officers

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many investigation officers employed in  (a) England,  (b) Scotland,  (c) Wales and  (d) Northern Ireland by HM Revenue and Customs work (i) full-time and (ii) part-time or on secondment; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: As of August 2006 Criminal Investigation Directorate of HM Revenue and Customs employed a total of 1,697 staff. Of these 1,542 are working full-time, 85 part-time and 70 were on secondment outside of Criminal Investigation. In addition 53 were seconded in from outside of Criminal Investigation. This is further broken down as follows.
	England and Wales: 1,401 employed full-time, 80 part-time and 67 on secondment.
	Scotland: 108 employed full-time, three part-time and two on secondment.
	Northern Ireland: 33 employed full-time, two part-time and one on secondment.
	Of the staff seconded into Criminal Investigation 44 are employed in England and Wales and nine in Northern Ireland.

Lyons Review

Louise Ellman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs in his Department have been relocated  (a) to Liverpool and  (b) elsewhere as a result of the Lyons Review; and on how many occasions Liverpool has been considered for relocation of staff under this programme.

John Healey: As part of the 2004 Spending Review all Departments agreed a target for relocating posts out of London and the South East by 2010. The Treasury Group committed to relocating 26.5 posts out of London (to Liverpool and Norwich) by 2007-08.
	Departments are required to report to Parliament on progress against the Lyons Review relocation targets twice yearly, the latest published position is available in HM Treasury's 2006 departmental report which reported that the Treasury Group was on track to meet this commitment. This information will be updated in the 2006 HM Treasury autumn performance report.

Ministerial Visits

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions in the past three years he has visited a military establishment on official business.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth) on 13 January 2005,  Official Report, column 595W.

Parliamentary Questions

Tom Watson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost was to his Department of answering parliamentary questions in the last 12 months.

John Healey: The former Financial Secretary (Mr. Stephen Timms) confirmed in a written ministerial statement on 22 March 2005,  Official Report, column 47WS, that with effect from 1 April 2005 the average cost of answering written and oral parliamentary questions was £134 and £369, respectively. I expect to be in a position early in the new parliamentary session to announce revised cost figures.
	Treasury Ministers have answered some 6,800 written questions in the 2005-06 session at a cost of approximately £910,000 (assuming an average cost of £134).

Pensioners (Hemel Hempstead)

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners living in Hemel Hempstead constituency who pay income tax.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on individuals paying income tax in the Hemel Hempstead constituency is published on the HM Revenue and Customs website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3_15_apr06.pdf in Table 3.15 "Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency 2003-04".
	The information is based on the 2003-04 Survey of Personal Incomes and is the latest available.
	The number of taxpaying individuals in Hemel Hempstead with pension income is 11,000. There may be a number of individuals with pension income that are not pensioners.
	Sample sizes at constituency levels are small and estimates can demonstrate a large variability from year to year, therefore any inference from the information in the tables should take into account the confidence intervals provided in Table 3.15a "Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency 2003-04—Confidence Intervals" http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3_15a_apr06.pdf. Further information on confidence intervals can found on HM Revenue website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/inc-distribution-note.pdf.

Productivity

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the productivity of the UK workforce was in each year since 1992.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 November 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the productivity of the UK workforce was in each year since 1992. I am replying in her absence. (100237)
	The usual measure is the seasonally adjusted whole economy output per worker index. The currently available series of index numbers is referenced on 2003 = 100. The table below gives annual figures for 1992 to 2005 inclusive and quarterly figures for the two quarters of 2006 that are available.
	In calculating output per worker, the measure of output used is the short-term output measure Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices. The measure used for number of workers is Labour Force Survey (LFS) workers.
	
		
			  Whole economy output per worker, 1992-2006 
			   Output per worker ( 1) 
			 1992 80.7 
			 1993 83.5 
			 1994 86.2 
			 1995 87.3 
			 1996 88.8 
			 1997 89.9 
			 1998 92.1 
			 1999 93.6 
			 2000 96.1 
			 2001 97.3 
			 2002 98.3 
			 2003 100.0 
			 2004 102.2 
			 2005 103.3 
			  2006  
			 Quarter 1 104.3 
			 Quarter 2 105.0 
			 (1 )Seasonally adjusted (2003 = 100)

Public Sector Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the Whole of Government Accounts 2006-07; what information on public sector pensions they will include; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The 2005 pre-Budget report reaffirmed the Government's intention to publish the first Balance Sheet information for the year ending 31 March 2007, once the methodological issues raised by the development work have been addressed. Further detail on developing accruals accounting for public sector bodies was discussed in "Delivering the Benefits of Accruals Accounting for the Whole Public Sector", published alongside the 2005 pre-Budget report.
	Whole of Government Accounts will include the public sector pensions disclosures required by UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Ship Searches

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many ships were searched by HM Revenue and Customs in Northern Ireland ports in each of the last three years.

John Healey: HMRC deploys resources according to risk and a number of modes of transport are searched as part of the UK Oils Strategy. Revealing specific information regarding geographical deployment could undermine the Department's efforts to prevent and detect smuggling and the apprehension and prosecution of those who set out to evade the controls.

Stamp Duty

Adam Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue has come from stamp duty on property in  (a) Gravesham constituency and  (b) Kent in each of the last five financial years; and what projections he has made for the next three financial years.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of amounts of stamp duty payable on property transactions in 2005-06 for each local authority in the United Kingdom was deposited in the House of Commons Library in response to a parliamentary written question from the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) on 26 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 94-95W.
	Information on the amounts of stamp duty payable from property sales for each parliamentary constituency for 2005-06 will be available on the HMRC website within the next few months.
	Projections of the amount of stamp duty expected in the future are not available below the United Kingdom level.

Tax Credits

Michael Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit overpayments were remitted between  (a) 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2006 and  (b) 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005; what the total value of such remittances was in each period; and what criteria were used in each period in determining eligibility for a remittance.

Dawn Primarolo: For the number of tax credits overpayments remitted on the grounds of official error, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 10 October 2006,  Official Report, columns 730-31W.
	For the value of tax credits overpayments written off on the grounds of official error between June 2004 and March 2006, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 14 July 2006,  Official Report, column 2116W.
	The value of overpayments written off on the grounds of official error from March 2006 to August 2006 was:
	
		
			  £000 
			   Value of disputed overpayments written off on grounds of official error 
			 March 2006 l,659 
			 April 2006 111 
			 May 2006 1,368 
			 June 2006 928 
			 July 2006 986 
			 August 2006 853 
		
	
	The value of overpayments remitted on the grounds of hardship is compiled annually to the end of October and shown in the table:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Year to end of October  Amount remitted 
			 2004 0 
			 2005 287 
			  Note: Details for the year to end of October 2006 are not yet available. 
		
	
	This information gives working tax credit (WTC) and child tax credit (CTC) remittance. Figures given on 4 July 2006,  Official Report, column 998W, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) and on 9 October 2006,  Official Report, column 301W, in answer to a similar question from the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) provided figures for WTC only.
	For details of the criteria applied by HMRC in deciding whether an overpayment should be written off, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 9 October 2006,  Official Report, column 299W.

Tax Credits

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether non-resident parents are liable for repayment of child tax credit overpayments by HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: Liability for overpayments is set out in Section 28(4) Tax Credits 2002. HMRC's approach to handling overpayments is set out in their Code of Practice 26, "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?"

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the average cost of administration for each  (a) tax credit payment and  (b) child benefit payment; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated cost of the payments in 2005-06, the latest period for which details are available is: tax credits £2.78/payment; child benefit £0.74/payment.
	The variation in cost is a reflection of the frequency of contact between the Department and its tax credit and child benefit customers being significantly different. Tax credits are responsive to a household's changing circumstances and require annual renewal, whereas once entitlement to child benefit has been established no further contact is normally needed until a child leaves school.

Tax Credits

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated cost is of the increase in the tax credits income disregard from £2,500 to £25,000 in each financial year between 2006-07 and 2010-11; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 1 November 2006
	The increase in the tax credits income disregard is part of a package of measures announced in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report. The Government have always been more confident about the overall cost of the PBR package which is based on the total level of overpayments. The estimates were based on data from the first year of the system and provisional information from the second year.
	The Exchequer effect of the changes to the tax credit system depend crucially on the source of overpayments. At that stage there was only limited information available on the sources of overpayments as HMRC only had complete data on 2003-04 overpayments, which were not representative of the system in steady state. This difficulty in accessing good quality data in the past made costing the individual elements of the package difficult.
	However following publication of the 2004-05 overpayment statistics in May 2006, HMRC now has two years of overpayment statistics to inform this costing. And crucially, unlike in 2003-04, awards in 2004-05 were based on the previous years income making them much more representative of future years awards. In addition the first stage of the finalisation process for 2005-06 was completed in August 2006, adding to this body of knowledge. This additional information has not led the Government to change the costing of the disregard—or the package as a whole—however it has allowed it to feel more confident in the costing of the individual elements of the package.
	There are still some uncertainties surrounding the costing. In particular it remains the case while the overall cost of the package is not affected by the order with which the changes are modelled, these interactions mean that the costs of the individual elements of the package are affected by the assumed order.
	Subject to these uncertainties, the costing of the £25,000 disregard, over the period 2006-07 to 2010-11 is provided as follows:
	
		
			  Exchequer effect (£ million) 
			   Income disregard of £25,000 
			 2006-07 -50 
			 2007-08 -100 
			 2008-09 -150 
			 2009-10 -250 
			 2000-11 -300 
		
	
	One needs to carefully distinguish between the change in claimants' entitlement from the change in the disregard and the cost to the Exchequer. The cost of the disregard is not the change in entitlement, but the forgone recovery of overpayments. The basic principle is that when money is paid out to tax credit claimants, it scores as a cost to the Exchequer. On the other hand, when any overpaid tax credits are recovered, there is a yield. The higher disregard does not necessarily affect the amount of money paid out to claimants in any one year. But by reducing the amount of overpayments, the higher disregard will mean there is less money to be recovered in future years. Hence the profile of costs shown above.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has further to simplify tax credit award notices.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC has taken a number of steps to ensure its communications are more claimant friendly and forms are easier to complete. This has included revising the tax credits award notice from April 2006 to give the claimant more information about entitlement, overpayments and recovery arrangements and improving the guidance note sent to claimants with their award notices.
	Going forward the finalisation/renewal notice claimants receive at the end of the year will include a "playback" of the information held by HMRC about their income and circumstances for the previous year. Building on these important steps, HMRC will continue to monitor the claimant experience and review the form based on feedback from claimants and those who represent them.

Tax Credits

Denis Murphy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many requests have been received from  (a) families and  (b) individuals in (i) the UK and (ii) Wansbeck constituency for the transcripts of their telephone conversations with staff at tax credit offices in the last 12 months; and what percentage of those requests have been refused.

Dawn Primarolo: Individuals can make subject access requests for recordings of calls made to the tax credits helpline, the Tax Credit Office's director's hotline and the MP hotline and those requests are dealt with in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
	Between 1 October 2005 and 30 September 2006 HM Revenue and Customs received around 2,600 subject access requests for recordings of such calls from individuals in the UK. Information at consistency level is not available.

Tax Credits

Denis Murphy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of families in  (a) the UK and  (b) Wansbeck constituency is in receipt of working tax credit have disputed alleged overpayments with HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.

Tax Credits

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the letter of 15 June 2006 from the hon. Member for Denton and Redditch, when he expects HM Revenue and Customs to pay back the outstanding £709.88 owed to Mrs. Julie Bowers, a constituent of the hon. Member in respect of her tax credit case.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs is statutorily debarred from disclosing information relating to the tax credits affairs of individuals. I have asked the Tax Credit Office to write to my right hon. Friend about his constituent's case.

Union of Democratic Mineworkers

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the  (a) Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) and  (b) UDM (Nottingham section) has been registered for VAT in each year since 1999.

Dawn Primarolo: Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 does not permit HM Revenue and Customs to disclose information relating to the tax affairs of individual taxpayers.

University Spin-off Companies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of university spin-off companies that have been formed since he announced the removal of tax barriers to the formation of such companies on 2 December 2004.

Dawn Primarolo: No estimates have been made of the number of university spin-off or spinout companies formed since the changes made by Finance Act 2005.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England conducts annual surveys of higher education-business and community interaction. The reports on the surveys provide information on research activity in higher education institutions and these are produced on their website at www.hefce.ac.uk. In addition, the University and Companies Association (UNICO) also conducts and publishes annual surveys on university commercialisation activities. More details are available through the UNICO website at www.unico.org.uk.

VAT

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to tackle VAT avoidance by retailers marketing entertainment products through Channel Island websites; and what discussions he has had with retailers on their use of such websites to avoid paying VAT.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are keeping this issue under close review. We have asked the states of Jersey and Guernsey to take measures to curb the activities of companies who have set up in business in the Channel Islands to service the fulfilment industry. If we judge that these measures are not effective, we have made it clear the UK Government may have to take action to reform the provisions which enable low value goods from the Channel Islands to be imported VAT free. My officials and those of HM Revenue and Customs have met with a range of retailers to receive representations on this issue.

VAT Fraud

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many civil VAT fraud cases were adopted for investigation in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the total value is of fines which were imposed for VAT missing trader intra-community fraud in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what the average sentence was for those convicted of VAT missing trader intra-community fraud in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what the value was of VAT involved in criminal VAT fraud cases  (a) reported and  (b) prosecuted in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  how many people were sentenced for VAT missing trader intra-community fraud in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  how many prosecutions were completed for VAT missing trader intra-community fraud in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  how many VAT fraud cases were reported for criminal prosecution in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  how many penalties were imposed following civil VAT fraud investigations in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(9)  how many criminal VAT fraud cases resulted in a conviction in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(10)  how many reported VAT missing trader intra-community fraud cases there were in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Prior to the creation of HMRC, HM Customs and Excise published the information requested in relation to fraud cases reported for civil investigation and criminal prosecution, and subsequent convictions each year in their Annual Report. Copies of the Annual Reports are available in the Library of the House. Since the creation of HMRC, these statistics have not been published. Where information is not published, it is not collated in the format requested.
	The Government remain determined to tackle MTIC VAT fraud, and the criminals perpetrating it, and a comprehensive strategy involving both operational and legislative measures has been developed. HMRC has committed significant additional resources to strengthen its strategy for tackling MTIC fraud, and there are now over 1,400 staff engaged in that work.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 2 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1455-456W, which details the measures.

Vehicle Tax

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cars have been taxed since his 2006 Budget at  (a) the zero rate of duty,  (b) the £40 rate of duty and  (c) the £100 rate of duty.

John Healey: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) administers the collection of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).
	In respect of the zero rate of duty (Band A graduated VED), I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford on 31 October,  Official Report, columns 317-18W.
	In respect of the £40 (Band B) and £100 (Band C) rates for petrol cars, it is not possible to extract the number of license renewals since they were introduced on 23 March this year. The table shows the number of vehicles licensed in those bands, as at June 2006.
	
		
			  Band  Graduated VED bands CO 2  emissions (g/km)  Number of licensed vehicles 
			 B 101-120 326,738 
			 C 121-150 3,670,676

CIA Aircraft

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the CIA Gulfstream jet registration N379P has used  (a) UK airspace and  (b) UK airports since 1 May 1997; what the purpose was of each flight; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: A flight plan must be filed with Eurocontrol for all flights operating into European controlled airspace that cross international borders. The right hon. Member for Edinburgh, South-West (Mr. Darling) and the Secretary of State agreed that Eurocontrol should release data earlier this year to Dick Marty, chair of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe, in order to contribute to the inquiry into rendition undertaken by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
	The UK asked for a copy of our relevant data which was then published on the Department's website in April and June this year at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionhomepage/611515.hcsp and http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionhomepage/611817.hcsp respectively. The Eurocontrol data shows that flight plans for aircraft registration N379P were filed for operations into the UK on approximately 80 occasions between 2001 and 2003.
	The information we hold on these flights does not include details of passengers or purpose of flight, as this information is not routinely collected.
	I refer to my right hon. Friend the former Foreign Secretary's written ministerial statement of 20 January 2006,  Official Report, columns 37-38WS, and written answer of 6 February 2006,  Official Report, columns 784-85W.

Crossrail

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment the Government have made of the potential economic impact of Crossrail on the economy.

Tom Harris: The Government have estimated that Crossrail would add approximately £20 billion to UK GDP. However, we are aware that different estimates for the GDP impact of Crossrail have been produced and are keeping the area under review accordingly.

Departmental Dress Code

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's policy is on the display of religious  (a) artefacts,  (b) symbols and  (c) dress by its staff; how many staff have been subject to disciplinary proceedings regarding this policy in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Two of the Department for Transport's Executive agencies have specific policies on the display of  (a) religious artefacts,  (b) symbols and  (c) dress by its staff.
	The DVLA, religious and belief policy is concerned with permitting and facilitating the free practice of religion by agency staff. This permits the wearing of cultural or religious dress.
	The Highways Agency policy applies to those staff who are required to wear a uniform. This states that the wearing of religious artefacts, dress etc is permitted provided that a full uniform is worn; the items are discreet; and that the items do not conflict with any health and safety obligations.
	Neither of the agencies has carried out any disciplinary proceedings regarding their policies in the last five years.

Departmental Spending

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent per capita on public transport in  (a) the North East region and  (b) Hartlepool constituency in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The per capita figures for each year shown combine payments to local authorities under the Department's bus grant schemes (Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, Rural and Urban Bus and Kickstart) and the Department's funding for capital expenditure on local transport:
	
		
			  £ per capita 
			   North East  Hartlepool 
			 2001-02 7.28 7.40 
			 2002-03 14.57 10.39 
			 2003-04 12.67 5.35 
			 2004-05 11.73 12.11 
			 2005-06 14.32 4.57 
		
	
	In addition, the Department pays Bus Service Operators Grant direct to operators of local bus services; this expenditure is not ascribed to geographical area.
	Local authorities also subsidise non-commercial bus services and concessionary fares on local transport from their own resources, including principally Revenue Support Grant from Central Government.

Departmental Spending

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the central Government approved per capita investment in transport has been in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region.

Gillian Merron: Investment in transport is a matter for local authorities and does not generally require central Government approval, although for some schemes authorities may seek specific additional grant, for example under S56 of the Transport Act 1968 or Section 87 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. In some cases an investment proposal may also require powers which are subject to approval by the Secretary of State.
	Available information on local authority per capita spend on services is published as part of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis and can be found at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/377/3B/cm6811_08_Chap_7.pdf.

Fuel Efficiency

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he has given to haulage companies on  (a) reduction of fuel consumption and  (b) increase in energy efficiency.

Stephen Ladyman: Freight Best Practice (FBP) guides, case studies and software are produced and distributed on a range of topics to English operators. Over the last year 82,000 visitors to the website downloaded 92,000 publications. 124,000 publications and 150,000 copies of the six monthly newsletter have been distributed. Operators involved in the FBP achieved fuel savings of over 6 per cent.
	Under our Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) programme 6,375 truck drivers have been trained and a further 7,500 van drivers and 5,500 truck drivers in the aggregates sector are now benefiting. To achieve long term embedding we are training up to 800 instructors to deliver SAFED training commercially.
	The Department funds industry experts to provide 'Site Specific Advice' for fleet managers. Potential fuel savings of over 10 per cent. have been previously identified for 600 fleets and a further 400 fleets in the aggregate sector are now receiving similar assistance, with funding from DEFRA.

Light Bulbs

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of light bulbs purchased by his Department in 2005 were of the compact fluorescent type.

Gillian Merron: In many cases fluorescent type bulbs are incompatible with existing fittings and purchase is not directly controlled or recorded.
	However, in the Department's main London HQ building and where permitted by the existing fittings 35-40 per cent. of this type of bulb have been installed, for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency the figure is 98 per cent. and at the Vehicle and Certification Agency 100 per cent. of purchases in the last financial year were of this type.
	For other parts of the Department the information is not held centrally and the information would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Mini Motos

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with  (a) the British Motorcyclists Federation and  (b) the Motorcycle Industry Association on mini moto regulation; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department, the British Motorcyclist Federation (BMF) and the Motorcycling Industry Association (MCIA) all field representatives to all the sub-groups of the National Motorcycle Council. This body (and its sub-groups) meets regularly to look at all aspects of motorcycling.
	In addition, last July I met representatives of the MCIA to discuss mini-moto issues and in October I received a briefing note and report from MCIA about the role of motor projects and road user education in helping to tackle public concerns about mini-moto use. I shall be replying shortly.

Mini Motos

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people under the age of 17 years have been fined for driving mini-motorcycles.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	The information is not available.
	The only offences identified by the statistical collections on the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, that are specific to motor cycles are "failing to wear a crash helmet" and "unlawful pillion riding". All other offences committed by motorcyclists cannot be identified from the data held centrally either because the offence as defined in legislation is not specific to any type of motor vehicle (e.g. driving on a footpath or vehicle not taxed or insured against third party risks) or because it is not identified separately, and grouped together with other miscellaneous motoring offences.

Motoring Offences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have had their driving licence endorsed for  (a) driving while disqualified by order of court,  (b) attempting to drive while disqualified by order of court,  (c) driving without reasonable consideration for other road users,  (d) using a vehicle with defective brakes and  (e) using a vehicle with defective tyres in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	Available data given in the table shows the number of endorsements imposed at all courts and as a result of fixed penalty notices by offence within England and Wales from 1997 to 2004 (latest available).
	2005 data will be available early in 2007.
	
		
			  Endorsements by order of the court and as a result of a Fixed Penalty Notice by type of offence, England and Wales, 1997 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			  Type of endorsement/Type of offence  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			  Endorsements without disqualification imposed at all courts 
			 Driving while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence(1) 24,303 23,100 25,800 24,700 24,200 25,100 27,500 24,200 
			 Careless driving without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other road users(2) 50,503 46,800 42,100 36,800 32,000 28,600 26,600 24,600 
			 Total vehicles or parts in dangerous or defective condition(3) 44,003 41,600 36,700 29,100 22,800 20,100 18,300 17,100 
			  Of which: 
			 Brakes defective(4) 3,100 2,800 2,100 1,900 1,400 1,200 1,100 900 
			 Tyres defective(5) 32,100 30,000 26,600 20,800 16,100 14,400 13,000 12,200 
			  
			  Endorsements as a result of a Fixed Penalty Notice 
			 Driving while disqualified from hold or obtaining a licence(1) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Careless driving without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other road users(2) (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— (6)— 
			 Total vehicles or parts in dangerous or defective condition(3) 14,703 15,000 11,200 8,000 6,700 5,600 6,200 7,000 
			  Of which: 
			 Brakes defective(4) (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— 
			 Tyres defective(5) (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— (7)— 
			 (1) Offence under s103(1) Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA88). Includes attempting (see s103(3) RTA88).(2) Offences under s3 RTA88.(3) Includes offences of brakes defective, steering defective, tyres defectives and using vehicle in dangerous condition etc.(4) Offences under Regs 16 and 18 and Sch 3 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (RV(C&U)Regs86); s41A RTA88 as added by s8 Road Traffic Act 1991 (RTA91).(5) Offences under Regs 25-27 RV(C&U)Regs86; s41A RTA88 as added by s8 RTA91.(6) Not applicable.(7) Not available. Notes:1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary monitoring offences, may be less than complete.2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Motorways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated construction cost is of the  (a) M25 and  (b) M1 widening Design Build Finance and Operate contracts; what the expected total cost of each contract is to public funds; and by what year all such costs are expected to have been paid in each case.

Stephen Ladyman: On current assumptions of scope, design, operation and inflation, both widening schemes have an approximate capital estimate of £2 billion, but this is subject to change as the full details of the schemes are finalised.
	The overall M25 DBFO contract value is estimated at £5 billion. This will be spread over the 30-year contract life with completion expected in 2039.
	The procurement strategy for the M1 widening between junctions 21 and 30 is currently under review but the working assumption is that it will now be procured as a series of ECI contracts. The project will be delivered in two parts with completion expected in 2014.

PFI Projects

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by his Department on private finance initiative projects postponed pending further consideration or stopped in the last 12 months.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has not stopped or postponed any private finance initiative projects in the last 12 months.

Railways (Overcrowding)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train service was the most overcrowded in each of the last five years.

Tom Harris: The Department has access to data covering Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PIXC), which applies to weekday commuter trains arriving in London between 07:00 and 09:59 and those departing London between 16:00 and 18:59.
	The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) publishes PIXC figures in its National Rail Trends publication, the version covering 2005 was published on 5 July 2006.
	The document is on the internet at the following address http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/294.pdf and has been made available in the Library of the House.
	Data for the previous four years have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The PIXC measure does not apply to rail and metro services within Passenger Transport Authorities in the UK and such information cannot be provided, due to the disproportionate cost in resource required to extract this in the format requested.

Railways (Overcrowding)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the 10 most overcrowded train services were in each of the last six months.

Tom Harris: The Department has access to data covering Passengers in Excess of Capacity (PIXC), which applies to weekday commuter trains arriving in London between 07:00 and 09:59 and those departing London between 16:00 and 18:59. PIXC counts are carried out once a year, on a typical weekday during the autumn (when there are maximum loadings).
	The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) publishes PIXC figures in its National Rail Trends publication, the most recent version of which was published on 5 July 2006.
	The document is on the internet at the following address http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/294.pdf and has been made available in the Library of the House.

Recycling

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage the use of reused and recycled materials in capital procurement projects for which his Department is responsible.

Gillian Merron: The Department's procurement procedures are consistent with the Office of Government Commerce and DEFRA Joint Note on Environmental Issues in Purchasing and with EU Procurement legislation. This means that, only where it is relevant to the subject matter of the contract, environmental aspects may be incorporated. A blanket approach to using reused and recycled materials is therefore not permissible but guidance is made available to all staff to enable them to consider such issues at the outset and incorporate them where it is appropriate and relevant to do so.
	The Department includes a clause in its standard conditions of contract that requires contractors to comply with the Department's environmental policy, part of which is to "conserve energy, water and other resources and reduce waste".
	Examples of where the Department has utilised reused and recycled materials include:
	Trunk road construction and maintenance by the Highways Agency;
	The extension of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch building at Farnborough;
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency's (VOSA) Estates Modernisation programme;
	All new vehicles purchased by the Government Car and Despatch Agency; and
	The Channel Tunnel Rail Link construction project (being delivered through Development Agreements between the Secretary of State for Transport and London and Continental Railways and London Underground).

Road Safety

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) children and  (b) pedestrians were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured on roads in Barnet in each year since 1990.

Stephen Ladyman: Following are the reported casualty figures for the London borough of Barnet from 1990 to 2005 (inclusive), the latest date for which information is available.
	
		
			  (a) Child casualties aged 0 to 15 inclusive 
			   Fatal  Serious  Total 
			 1990 1 45 46 
			 1991 1 41 42 
			 1992 1 46 47 
			 1993 1 32 33 
			 1994 0 27 27 
			 1995 0 35 35 
			 1996 0 37 37 
			 1997 0 25 25 
			 1998 0 31 31 
			 1999 0 32 32 
			 2000 0 33 33 
			 2001 1 27 28 
			 2002 0 25 25 
			 2003 0 25 25 
			 2004 2 22 24 
			 2005 2 20 22 
			 Total 9 503 512 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) All pedestrian casualties 
			   Fatal  Serious  Total 
			 1990 11 119 130 
			 1991 8 85 93 
			 1992 8 77 85 
			 1993 6 90 96 
			 1994 2 60 62 
			 1995 4 77 81 
			 1996 3 75 78 
			 1997 6 56 62 
			 1998 5 64 69 
			 1999 6 62 68 
			 2000 6 64 70 
			 2001 4 62 66 
			 2002 5 59 64 
			 2003 12 50 62 
			 2004 5 50 55 
			 2005 7 42 49 
			 Total 98 1,092 1,190

School Bus Services

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations local education authorities are required to conduct before withdrawing a school bus service; how those consultations are conducted; and with whom they are conducted.

Gillian Merron: The Education Act 1996 places a duty on local education authorities (LEAs) to make arrangements for transport where it is necessary to ensure a child's attendance at school. LEAs have wide discretion in deciding whether transport is necessary, but case law requires them to provide free home to school transport for pupils of compulsory school age who are attending their nearest suitable school, provided that the school is beyond 'statutory walking distance'. In addition, many LEAs use their discretionary powers to provide transport to school in circumstances where they are under no legal obligation to do so. The law requires LEAs to publish their transport policies covering support provided under their statutory duties and discretionary powers.
	Where LEAs make arrangements using their discretionary powers, they are free to consult on and change those policies. While there is no legislation governing the conduct of such consultations, good practice suggests that consultations should involve all interested parties, with consultations taking place during term time. Guidance issued by the Department of Education and Skills states that good practice suggests that any changes should be brought in at the end of the school year, and that they should be phased in as pupils change or leave schools.
	The position is however different if a school bus service is a local service receiving a subsidy from the local transport authority. The Transport Act 1985 requires local transport authorities, when considering policies on subsidised bus services, to consult other authorities who may be affected by those policies and bus operators in their area. There are no specific requirements as to how they should do this.
	In developing their bus strategies and accessibility strategies, local authorities also need to consider the passenger transport needs in their areas and consultation with various stakeholders can play a part in this.

Transport Innovation Fund

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1538W, on the Transport Innovation Fund, whether Transport Innovation Fund awards are dependent on proposals for road-user charging.

Stephen Ladyman: The Transport Innovation Fund has two entry points: "congestion TIF" and "productivity TIF".
	The aim of productivity TIF is support the funding of regional, inter-regional and local schemes that are beneficial to national productivity. We are in the process of considering business cases for first round allocations of productivity TIF. Road-user charging is not one of the current criteria.
	With the congestion TIF, we are seeking bids for effective demand management proposals as part of wider packages of interventions to tackle congestion at a local level. Guidance published in January 2006 (http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_611056.hcsp) makes clear that authorities are not required to include road pricing as the demand management element of their proposals, but we are more likely to fund those packages that do.

Trust Ports

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the status is of the document Modernising Trust Ports; what mechanisms are in place  (a) to encourage and  (b) to require compliance; and what assessment he has made of the trust ports' implementations of the recommendations in the document to date.

Stephen Ladyman: "Modernising Trust Ports—A Guide to Good Governance" is intended to advise trust ports on the general standards of conduct and accountability that the Government expects of them. Subsequent to publication we continue to advise on the steps ports can take to comply with it. There is no statutory obligation upon the ports in question to comply but the majority have either taken or are taking legislative means to do so by way of Harbour Revision Orders and other administrative changes.

Agency Staff

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on agency staff in each of the last five years; and what the budget is for agency staff in 2007-08.

Barry Gardiner: The Department came into being in July 2001. Information held centrally on how much the core-Department spent on agency staff is each of the last five years will be placed in the House of Commons Library by 10 November 2006. The budget for agency staff in 2007-08 is not yet determined.

Agency Staff

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on agency staff at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in each year since 2001; and what the budget is for agency staff at the RPA in 2007-08.

Barry Gardiner: The cost of agency staff since RPA was established in October 2001 is as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2001-02 5.8 
			 2002-03 3.9 
			 2003-04 4.8 
			 2004-05 4.5 
			 2005-06 21.0 
		
	
	The forecast agency costs for 2006-07 are £25.5 million. Budget values for the 2007-08 period are currently being calculated. Confirmation from Ministers of the 2007-08 budget is not expected to be received until the new year.
	The detail supporting each of the above years can be found in RPA's annual report and accounts under House of Commons publication numbers HC 1197, HC 940, HC 1009, HC 82 and HC 1612 respectively.

Agricultural Accommodation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the minimum agricultural wage is for qualification for an agricultural occupancy dwelling.

Barry Gardiner: There is no direct link between the agricultural minimum wage and qualification for an agricultural occupancy dwelling. Further information on the agricultural minimum wage can be found on the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/agwages/index.htm
	An assured agricultural occupancy arises under the Housing Act 1988 and applies where the occupant of a dwelling meets the agricultural worker condition. This includes serving farm workers who have been employed in agriculture full time (that is, 35 or more hours of work per week) for 91 out of the past 104 weeks. It also includes retired or former agricultural workers provided they have completed the 91 week qualifying period and, the widow or widower of a qualifying agricultural worker. More information is available in the booklet 'Agricultural Lettings' published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, which can be found on the DCLG website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501308.

British Waterways

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whom he has consulted about the changes to British Waterways' budget since January 2006; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what changes he has made to the 2006-07 budget for British Waterways since January 2006; why the budget was changed; when the decision to change British Waterways' budget was made; what discussions he has had with British Waterways on changes to their 2006-07 budget; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with  (a) British Waterways on their budget for the next five years and  (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on British Waterways' budget for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The Government have consulted closely with the Chairman and chief executive of British Waterways (BW) on the financial pressures facing the Department and what these mean for its sponsored bodies. The Secretary of State and I met recently with the chief executive of BW to listen to his concerns. A further meeting between the Chairman, chief executive and myself is planned for later this month. This will look further at the implications for the adjustments in subsidy and how BW can continue to contribute towards Government and DEFRA priorities.
	In order to accommodate budgetary pressures, all areas of the Department's spend have been subject to rigorous scrutiny as part of a budget review. The review was comprehensive in nature and has ensured that DEFRA's funding for the current year is placed where it can have the greatest impact. As a matter of good financial management, DEFRA keeps its budgets and spending under regular review and challenge and adjusts them as new pressures and demands arise. The overall budget for the Department remains unchanged and will be subject to the normal Parliamentary approval and scrutiny.
	Grant allocation for 2006-07 for BW was originally confirmed as £59.429 million and they were notified of this in April 2006. However, the July in-year review of budgets brought a further cut of approximately 7 per cent. Final grant allocation for 2006/07 will therefore be £55.497 million. Allocations for 2007-08 will be issued shortly, following further engagement between the Secretary of State and the Chairs of our key delivery partners, including BW.
	The taxpayer would not expect DEFRA to consult Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) every time there were financial pressures. We seek to manage the pressures that inevitably arise from time to time from within the annual budget voted by Parliament.
	Allocations beyond 2008 to 2011 are dependent on the outcome of the current comprehensive spending review (CSR) which is scheduled to conclude by summer of 2007. Consultation will take place with HMT as dictated by the CSR timetable. However, officials are in discussion with BW about the potential for a long term contract within the context of the CSR period.

Carbon Committee

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria will be used in making appointments to the proposed carbon committee; what funding will be provided for the committee; and what measures will be put in place to ensure transparency in its operation.

Ian Pearson: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment (David Miliband) said in his statement to the House on 30 October concerning the Stern Review,  Official Report, column 28 the details of the carbon committee will be set out when the climate change Bill is published in due course. The Government want to ensure the widest possible debate in the House and across the country about the contents of the Bill.

Correspondence

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will answer the letter dated 31st May from the hon. Member for North Down in relation to a future visit to Northern Ireland.

Barry Gardiner: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (David Miliband) replied to the hon. Member on 5 November 2006.

Dairy Products

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under what legislation the milk and dairy products industry has been regulated since 1997; what estimate he has made of the number of breaches of such regulations in each year since 1997, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) legislative instrument; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	I have assumed that the references to regulations relate to the food hygiene legislation applicable to milk and dairy products establishments. Beyond hygiene, milk and dairy products are, as with other foods, required to be compliant with general food law and legislation including labelling, contaminants, additives and composition. Information relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
	I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that between 1997 and 31 December 2005 the hygiene legislation under which milk and dairy products establishments were regulated in England was the Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995 (as amended) and the Milk and Dairies (General) Regulations 1959 (as amended). On 1 January 2006, new and directly applicable EC food hygiene legislation came into effect which superseded this legislation (Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 and Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004).
	The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate (DHI) is part of the State Veterinary Service (an executive agency of Defra) and acts on behalf of the agency in administering and enforcing the hygiene legislation at registered milk production holdings prior to processing such as pasteurisation, bottling or the manufacture of dairy products. Local authorities enforce the regulations in establishments undertaking activities in relation to milk beyond the remit of the DHI and the remainder of the dairy industry.
	The Agency has obtained information from the DHI relating to inspections of registered milk production holdings carried out in England during the period requested which is set out in the table. I am advised that information is not collected in such a way that allows it to be presented by region.
	Inspections carried out by the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate in England, 1996-97 to 2005-06.
	
		
			   Number of inspections  Dairy hygiene inspectorate costs  Number of final notices of intention to cancel registration issued 
			 1996-97 11,948 955,413 73 
			 1997-98 12,198 1,128,188 51 
			 1998-99 10,002 940,188 60 
			 1999-2000 10,048 900,332 63 
			 2000-01(1) 8,812 828,328 120 
			 2001-02(1) 4,214 339,570 80 
			 2002-03 13,472 1,293,312 164 
			 2003-04 13,543 1,299,072 170 
			 2004-05 13,324 1,330,972 178 
			 2005-06 13,119 1,338,138 142 
			 (1) 2000-01 and 2001-02 figures are reduced due to the suspension of inspections during the foot and mouth outbreak. Source: Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate 
		
	
	Given the remit of the DHI, the final notices to which reference is made in the table will have been issued due to breaches of the hygiene legislation. The agency was advised that the DHI does not collect other information on breaches centrally.
	Information on local authority food law enforcement, including breaches resulting in formal enforcement action, is collected by the agency under monitoring arrangements to satisfy European requirements. However, this does not provide the level of detail required for information on milk and dairy products nor does the agency collect information on the costs of these activities.
	There are currently approximately 1,100 approved dairy products establishments in England which are required to be inspected in accordance with the statutory Food Law Code of Practice at a minimum frequency of six months.

Departmental IT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of his Department's databases are  (a) wholly and  (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases.

Barry Gardiner: This response refers to core-Defra only, which is covered by the provisions of the e-nabling Defra contract, a contract that saw Defra's IT capability outsourced to IBM.
	The data in the Department's databases both belongs to, and is operated by the Department. In the main the databases are hosted on IBM owned hardware.

Departmental IT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which databases operated by his Department are located  (a) wholly and  (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located.

Barry Gardiner: All of core-Defra's databases are hosted within the UK with none of the data going offshore.

Endangered Species

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect endangered black rhinos.

Barry Gardiner: The main threats facing rhinoceros are loss of habitat and illegal poaching for their horn which is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. To address the threat to the species from international, commercial trade, the black rhino has been listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1977. The UK has consequently banned all trade in rhinoceros products.
	In addition, through the Darwin Initiative, Defra has funded a recently-completed project in Kenya to develop a team of researchers and field personnel whose aim is to increase the numbers of black rhinos in the wild (£175,000). We have also funded recent research into plant alternatives to traditional Chinese medicine ingredients like rhinoceros horn and tiger bone (£67,500). This year we have also contributed £30,000 to the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group to facilitate collaboration in rhinoceros conservation and trade issues including the fight against illegal trade.

Endangered Species

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect the endangered Ethiopian wolf.

Barry Gardiner: Defra has provided funding through the Darwin Initiative to projects in Ethiopia that specifically help protect native species of plants and animals, although to date none of these have been on the native Ethiopian wolf.

Flood Defences/Flooding

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of people defined as at high risk of flooding under Environment Agency's definitions in each of the last 10 years; and what assessment he has made of the trend in this figure.

Ian Pearson: The Environment Agency (EA) first produced an indicative floodplain map for the whole of England and Wales in 1999. This indicated that about 1.8 million properties were at risk from flooding from rivers and the sea. The EA has continued to improve its maps, and in October 2004 published a new Flood Map on the internet, which included the flood zones defined in the Department for Communities and Local Government's land use planning policy. Planning Policy Guidance Note 25 defines the "high risk" flood zone as having an annual probability of flooding of 1.0 per cent. (or 1 in 100 in any one year) or greater for river flooding and 0.5 per cent. (or 1 in 200 for any one year) or greater for tidal and coastal flooding.
	There are estimated to be about 1.83 million properties across England and Wales within this definition of a "high risk" flood zone, which equates to approximately 3.5 million people. This figure has not changed significantly over the last 10 years; changes in the figure arise from improvements in the EA's flood mapping and changes in the land use in these areas.

Greenwich Mean Time

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on carbon dioxide emissions of putting the clocks  (a) back and  (b) forward.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 6 November 2006
	Work undertaken by the Building Research Establishment for the Department indicates that putting clocks in the UK back one hour (to match Central European time) would lead to an net increase in carbon dioxide emissions from lighting, space heating and cooling energy consumption in UK buildings corresponding to around 1 per cent. of total UK emissions of carbon dioxide. The study also shows that a switch to British summertime all the year round would increase emissions by just under 0.5 per cent.

Ministerial Blog

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the monthly administrative costs of his blog; and what the budget for the blog is for 2007-08.

Barry Gardiner: It is estimated that around 10 hours of staff time per month is spent administering the Secretary of State's blog the cost of which is estimated at £300. In addition, technical support costs around £900 per year. It is expected it will cost a similar amount to administer the blog in 2007-08.

Ministerial Blog

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff hours each month on average are taken up administering his blog, broken down by  (a) grade and  (b) office or directorate of his Department in which the staff work.

Barry Gardiner: On average, around 10 staff hours are taken up administering the Secretary of State's blog each month. This involves staff at Grade 7, Senior Information Officer and Higher Executive Officer all based in the Communications Directorate.

Office of Climate Change

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) of 31 October 2006,  Official Report, column 275, on the Office of Climate Change, why the Office of Climate Change's reports are not expected to be published.

Ian Pearson: The Office of Climate Change's reports will support Ministers as they develop future UK strategy and policy on domestic and international climate change. The ministerial board who govern the Office will keep Parliament informed of progress.

Rapeseed

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what varieties of genetically-modified rapeseed are licensed for use in the UK.

Ian Pearson: Licensing decisions on the commercial use of genetically modified (GM) products are taken at EU level. A type of GM oilseed rape known as GT73 received a favourable authorisation decision in August 2005 for import and processing within the EU, although not cultivation. This was under the procedures covered by Directive 2001/18 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms.
	In addition, other EU consents have in the past been issued for the use of GM oilseed rape under the regulations governing the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to the environment. However, in these instances the varieties of GM oilseed rape in question are no longer being marketed in the EU.
	Vegetable oil and other materials derived from certain lines of GM oilseed rape are authorised for use in food and animal feed, under regulation (EC) 1829/2003 on GM food and feed.

Recycling

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the environmental impact of transporting waste for recycling; what guidelines are issued on preferred maximum distances for such transportation; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: No specific assessment has been made. However, a report from the DEFRA-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme states that recycling in the UK saves 10 to 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. This is equivalent to taking 3.5 million cars off the road.
	In July 2005, DEFRA published the document, 'Changes to Waste Management Decision Making Principles in Waste Strategy 2000', which put forward a number of principles on which waste decision making should be based:
	(i) Individuals communities and organisations should take responsibility for their waste;
	(ii) In taking decisions there should be consideration of alternative options in a systematic way;
	(iii) Effective community engagement should be an important and integral part of the decision making process;
	(iv) The environmental impacts for possible options should be assessed looking at both the long and short term.
	These considerations are reflected in Planning Policy Statement 10 (PPS 10), published by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Guidance on PPS10 was published in June this year following a series of seminars with interested parties.
	The Government also encourage all local authorities to have in place a fit for purpose and up-to-date municipal waste management strategy to assist their waste management planning. DEFRA has produced guidance on how to prepare a waste management strategy, which is available from the DEFRA website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environmental/waste/local/planning.html.

Rural Payments Agency

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Rural Payments Agency staff received a bonus in each of the last three years; what the average value of such bonuses was; what the  (a) highest and  (b) lowest bonus paid was over the period; and by what criteria such payments are awarded.

Barry Gardiner: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			   Number of staff in receipt of a performance bonus  Average value of performance bonus (£) 
			 2004 525 500 
			 2005 539 341 
			 2006(1) 467 485 
			 (1 )Estimates based on current available information. 
		
	
	In 2004 the RPA paid a flat rate non-consolidated bonus payment of £500 for staff with 'Exceeded' box marks following the end of year individual performance review. This arrangement was negotiated with TUS and implemented as part of the 2004 pay settlement.
	In 2005 the RPA awarded a flat rate bonus of £550 to staff with 'Exceeded' box marks. This was awarded in two parts. Part one—a half step progression in the payscale. Part two—the remaining value of the bonus was paid as a non-consolidated lump sum up to the value of £550. This arrangement was negotiated with TUS and implemented as part of the 2005 pay settlement.
	In 2006 the RPA proposes to pay a flat rate non-consolidated bonus of £500 to staff with Exceeded box marks. This will be pro rated for part time staff. This arrangement is currently the subject of negotiation within the 2006 Pay Settlement.
	In addition bonuses paid to the former RPA Chief Executive, Johnston McNeill, are:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004 18,640.60 
			 2005 21,062.25 
		
	
	No bonuses have been paid for 2006.
	Under the terms of Johnston McNeill's contract and in line with Cabinet Office guidance for SCS pay, these bonuses were related to annual salary and apportioned according to achievement of specific targets, including RPA's published key performance targets.

Softwood

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the report "United Kingdom: New Forecast of Softwood Availability" published by the Forestry Commission in September.

Barry Gardiner: I will arrange for a copy of the report, which was published on the Forestry Commission's website at http://www.forestrygov.uk/pdf/PF2005.pdf/$FILE/PF2005.pdf to be placed in the Library of the House.

Softwood

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the availability of UK sourced softwood;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of forecasts of available supplies of UK sourced softwood for power generation; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The new forecast of UK softwood availability was recently published on the Forestry Commission's website. Table 1 from the report, reproduced as follows, shows the amount of material available to a stated top diameter, rather than by potential end use. The full report is available on the Commission website at: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/PF2005.pdf/$FILE/PF2005.pdf. I have arranged for a copy of the report to be placed in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  Table 1: United Kingdom: 2005 forecast of softwood availability—Forestry Commission Estate (FC), Forest Service Northern Ireland (FS) and Private Sector (PS) 
			  (Average annual volume in thousands of cubic metres overbark standing) 
			   2007-11  2012-16 
			  Top-diameter class  FC/FS  PS  Total  Percentage spruce  FC/FS  PS  Total  Percentage spruce 
			  North England 
			 7 to 14 cm 259 136 395 72 264 133 397 75 
			 14 to 16 cm 90 55 145 74 89 60 149 74 
			 16 to 18 cm 81 58 139 72 79 67 146 72 
			 Up to 18 cm 339 313 652 56 356 386 742 58 
			 Total 769 562 1,331 64 788 647 1,434 66 
			  
			  Central England 
			 7 to 14 cm 62 73 135 14 48 60 108 15 
			 14 to 16 cm 22 32 54 13 19 28 47 15 
			 16 to 18 cm 21 36 57 12 19 34 53 15 
			 Up to 18 cm 153 284 437 12 180 322 502 13 
			 Total 258 425 683 12 266 443 710 13 
			  
			  South England 
			 7 to 14 cm 56 146 202 21 56 127 183 21 
			 14 to 16 cm 20 62 82 22 21 55 76 22 
			 16 to 18 cm 22 70 92 23 23 64 87 24 
			 Up to 18 cm 243 594 837 20 276 665 941 20 
			 Total 341 871 1,213 21 376 912 1,287 21 
			  
			  England 
			 7 to 14 cm 377 355 732 47 368 320 688 51 
			 14 to 16 cm 132 149 281 47 129 144 272 49 
			 16 to 18 cm 124 164 288 44 121 165 286 47 
			 Up to 18 cm 735 1,190 1,926 30 812 1,373 2,185 31 
			 Total 1,368 1,858 3,227 37 1,430 2,002 3,431 38 
			  
			  Wales 
			 7 to 14 cm 166 155 321 66 174 156 330 68 
			 14 to 16 cm 69 55 124 71 73 56 129 74 
			 16 to 18 cm 72 61 133 71 77 64 141 74 
			 Up to 18 cm 482 397 879 63 557 469 1,026 66 
			 Total 789 669 1,457 65 881 746 1,626 68 
			  
			  Scotland 
			 7 to 14 cm 999 945 1,944 68 1,070 1,033 2,103 68 
			 14 to 16 cm 357 402 759 75 413 459 872 74 
			 16 to 18 cm 336 420 756 77 401 496 897 76 
			 Up to 18 cm 1,540 1,894 3,434 76 1,885 2,393 4,278 76 
			 Total 3,232 3,661 6,893 73 3,769 4,380 8,150 74 
			  
			  Great Britain 
			 7 to 14 cm 1,542 1,455 2,997 63 1,612 1,509 3,121 64 
			 14 to 16 cm 558 606 1,164 68 615 659 1,273 69 
			 16 to 18 cm 532 645 1,177 68 599 725 1,324 70 
			 Up to 18 cm 2,757 3,481 6,239 60 3,254 4,235 7,489 62 
			 Total 5,389 6,188 11,577 62 6,080 7,128 13,207 64 
			  
			  Northern Ireland 
			 7 to 14 cm 79 2 81 89 100 2 102 91 
			 14 to 16 cm 42 2 44 89 56 2 58 91 
			 16 to 18 cm 42 4 46 89 56 4 60 91 
			 Up to 18 cm 289 12 301 89 367 12 379 91 
			 Total 452 20 472 89 579 20 599 91 
			  
			  United Kingdom 
			 7 to 14 cm 1,621 1,457 3,078 63 1,712 1,511 3,223 65 
			 14 to 16 cm 600 608 1,208 68 671 661 1,331 70 
			 16 to 18 cm 574 649 1,223 69 655 729 1,384 71 
			 Up to 18 cm 3,046 3,493 6,540 61 3,621 4,247 7,868 63 
			 Total 5,841 6,208 12,049 63 6,659 7,148 13,806 65 
		
	
	
		
			  (Average annual volume in thousands of cubic metres overbark standing) 
			   2017-21  2022-26 
			  Top-diameter class  FC/FS  PS  Total  Percentage spruce  FC/FS  PS  Total  Percentage spruce 
			  North England 
			 7 to 14 cm 220 129 349 73 173 122 295 73 
			 14 to 16 cm 82 61 143 75 69 59 128 75 
			 16 to 18 cm 75 71 146 73 64 69 133 74 
			 Up to 18 cm 336 450 786 59 292 477 769 59 
			 Total 713 711 1,424 65 598 727 1,325 65 
			  
			  Central England 
			 7 to 14 cm 42 52 94 15 35 51 86 15 
			 14 to 16 cm 19 25 44 14 16 23 39 15 
			 16 to 18 cm 20 32 52 15 18 29 47 17 
			 Up to 18 cm 192 360 552 14 190 375 565 14 
			 Total 273 469 742 14 259 478 737 14 
			  
			  South England 
			 7 to 14 cm 53 115 168 21 42 107 149 21 
			 14 to 16 cm 22 50 72 22 18 46 64 20 
			 16 to 18 cm 24 60 84 23 20 56 76 22 
			 Up to 18 cm 318 750 1,068 20 262 788 1,050 19 
			 Total 417 974 1,392 21 342 996 1,339 20 
			  
			  England 
			 7 to 14 cm 315 296 611 50 250 280 530 49 
			 14 to 16 cm 123 137 259 50 103 128 231 50 
			 16 to 18 cm 119 162 282 48 102 154 256 48 
			 Up to 18 cm 846 1,560 2,406 31 744 1,640 2,384 31 
			 Total 1,403 2,155 3,558 37 1,199 2,201 3,401 36 
			  
			  Wales 
			 7 to 14 cm 169 178 347 71 150 193 343 74 
			 14 to 16 cm 71 54 125 73 66 50 116 73 
			 16 to 18 cm 73 63 136 74 69 57 126 75 
			 Up to 18 cm 480 466 946 66 461 446 907 68 
			 Total 793 761 1,554 69 746 746 1,492 71 
			  
			  Scotland 
			 7 to 14 cm 1,054 1,116 2,170 67 908 1,082 1,990 67 
			 14 to 16 cm 438 501 939 74 397 497 894 73 
			 16 to 18 cm 438 548 986 76 405 555 960 75 
			 Up to 18 cm 2,172 2,675 4,847 77 1,987 2,872 4,859 77 
			 Total 4,102 4,840 8,942 74 3,697 5,006 8,703 74 
			  
			  Great Britain 
			 7 to 14 cm 1,538 1,590 3,128 64 1,308 1,555 2,863 65 
			 14 to 16 cm 632 692 1,323 69 566 674 1,241 69 
			 16 to 18 cm 630 773 1,404 70 576 767 1,342 70 
			 Up to 18 cm 3,498 4,701 8,199 62 3,192 4,958 8,150 63 
			 Total 6,298 7,756 14,054 64 5,642 7,954 13,596 64 
			  
			  Northern Ireland 
			 7 to 14 cm 82 2 84 91 69 2 71 91 
			 14 to 16 cm 56 2 58 91 42 2 44 91 
			 16 to 18 cm 48 4 52 91 42 4 46 91 
			 Up to 18 cm 386 12 398 91 376 12 388 91 
			 Total 572 20 592 91 529 20 549 91 
			  
			  United Kingdom 
			 7 to 14 cm 1,620 1,592 3,212 65 1,377 1,557 2,934 65 
			 14 to 16 cm 688 694 1,381 70 608 676 1,285 69 
			 16 to 18 cm 678 777 1,456 71 618 771 1,388 71 
			 Up to 18 cm 3,884 4,713 8,597 64 3,568 4,970 8,538 64 
			 Total 6,870 7,776 14,646 65 6,171 7,974 14,145 65

State Veterinary Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in expenditure on the ability of the state veterinary service to deal with outbreaks of disease.

Ben Bradshaw: There has been no reduction in funding for the SVS, on the contrary, the SVS has received an increase of £19 million this year in its funding.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether the Waste and Resources Action Programme Real Nappy Initiative aimed to divert 35,000 tonnes of waste  (a) in each year from 2003 to 2006 and  (b) in total;
	(2)  how much disposable nappy waste has been diverted by the Waste and Resources Action Programme's Real Nappy initiative; and what its targets are for such diversion.

Ben Bradshaw: pursuant to the reply, 3 July 2006, Official Report, c. 747-48
	The first sentence contained the words per annum. This was incorrect and the correct answer should red as follows:
	The target of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Real Nappy programme target was to convert an additional 155,000 households to real nappy use by April 2006, and in the process divert 35,000 tonnes per annum of disposable nappy waste from landfill.
	The rest of the answer remains correct and is detailed as follows:
	WRAP reports annually on its overall progress in meeting targets, including work under the Real Nappy Programme. It is scheduled to report on its achievements for the business plan period up to 2006 soon. At the outset of the programme, 91 per cent. of expectant parents said they intended to use disposable nappies. Work done for the Environment Agency suggested the figure may be higher at 94 per cent. WRAP intends to survey parents again at the end of the programme and to establish the change in intended behaviour. An estimate of the diversion will be made and published by WRAP at that time taking account of the survey and other quantitative evidence.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what imports to the UK came from Burma in the first six months of 2006, broken down by value of category of import.

Ian McCartney: Information on the UK's imports of goods from Burma by product is given in the following table.
	
		
			  UK imports of goods from Burma: January to June 2006 at two digit Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) level 
			  SITC  Description  £000 
			 03 Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. (not marine mammals) 3,625 
			 05 Vegetables and fruit 359 
			 07 Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof 107 
			 24 Cork and wood 486 
			 51 Organic chemicals 17 
			 52 Inorganic chemicals 25 
			 59 Chemical materials and products nes 39 
			 63 Cork and wood manufactures (excluding furniture) 928 
			 64 Paper, paperboard, and articles of paper pulp; etc. 41 
			 65 Textile yam, fabrics, made-up articles, nes 63 
			 66 Non-metallic mineral manufactures 10 
			 69 Manufactures of metal nes 114 
			 71 Power generating machinery and equipment 31 
			 72 Machinery specialised for particular industries 61 
			 75 Office machines and ADP equipment 132 
			 76 Telecoms and sound recording and reproducing apparatus 15 
			 77 Electrical machinery, appliances, nes and parts thereof 116 
			 78 Road vehicles 10 
			 81 Prefabricated buildings; sanitary, plumbing, heating, lighting 23 
			 82 Furniture, bedding, mattresses, cushions and similar stuffed furnishing 662 
			 83 Travel goods, handbags and similar containers 12 
			 84 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories 5,806 
			 85 Footwear 828 
			 89 Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes 129 
			 9- Commodities and Transactions not elsewhere classified in the SITC 90 
			 Total  13,729 
			 nes = not elsewhere specified.   Note:  Further detail is available in OTS publications and from the website www.uktradeinfo.com   Source:  HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2006,  Official Report, column 2323W, on citizens advice bureaux, what assessment he has made of the merits of  (a) time-limited and  (b) on-going support.

Ian McCartney: As the previous answer indicated, central Government will not be providing on-going support to Citizens Advice Bureaux in the UK and has therefore not carried out an assessment of support options for the bureaux. Approximately half the current support comes from local authorities that offer time-limited support agreements with possibility of renewal (but no guarantees).
	A recent review of the Department's funding of Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland concluded that there were advantages in having a mix of core funding and short-term project support. This can provide stability with the ability to be innovative and flexible to meet changing needs. I will be considering the report's recommendations as part of our Comprehensive Spending Review planning process. The full report is on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/files/file33785.pdf.

Climate Change

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what response he plans to make to the recommendations of the Stern Review on the economics of climate change.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs presented the Government's response to the Stern review on the economics of climate change in this House on 30 October.
	The Department of Trade and Industry expect to use the Review's findings as a major input into future policymaking including the proposed Energy White Paper expected to be published in March 2007.

Departmental Property

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 23 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1689W, on departmental property, what items were reported within his Department as being lost or stolen in each month since July 2005 in each building; and what the approximate value was of each item.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 23 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1689W.
	The Department's records do not readily differentiate between items reported as stolen or lost, by building. The breakdown between the three is not held in an easily accessible form and can, therefore, be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Door-to-Door Salesmen

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to tackle rogue door to door salesmen.

Jim Fitzpatrick: On 7 September 2006 the Department announced the Government's response to a report on doorstep selling published by the Office of Fair Trading in May 2004, in the light of a public consultation between July and November 2004 and further consultations with interested parties in 2005 and 2006. The response says that the Government will:
	(a) extend to solicited visits, the cancellation rights and cooling-off period that consumers currently enjoy for unsolicited visits;
	(b) require cancellation notices to be provided within contracts; and
	(c) encourage greater transparency on prices and greater willingness to provide written quotes.
	The first measure (a) will require primary legislation, which the Government will bring forward at the earliest opportunity. We will then implement both options (a) and (b) by bringing forward revised Regulations in this area.
	The response recommended that the third measure (c) be taken forward through industry self-regulation, by encouraging traders to operate under Codes of Practice that have been approved under the Office of Fair Trading's Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, or for the building and construction trades through participation in TrustMark.

Energy Research and Development

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to increase financial support for  (a) energy research and development and  (b) the deployment of low carbon technologies.

Malcolm Wicks: Research Councils' support for energy research is increasing from £40 million per annum to £70 million per annum between 2005-06 and 2007-08. Funding for the following three years will be determined in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in September a commitment of up to £500 million to a new Energy Technologies Institute, to create a £l billion joint venture with industry over the next decade for energy research and development.
	In June, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for DEFRA announced the new Environmental Transformation Fund which is intended to boost investment in low carbon technologies and in energy efficiency. The fund will focus on demonstration and deployment of low carbon technologies. It is expected to run over the next CSR period from 2008-09 through to 2010-11. Details of the Fund will be announced in due course.

Farepak

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent meetings he has had with HBOS on the continued trading of Farepak between August and October.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 6 November 2006
	I made contact with the Chairman of HBOS and will have further discussions with him after the debate at Westminster Hall on 7 November titled 'Farepak and the voucher/hamper industry' raised by my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon.

Fireworks

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the  (a) effectiveness and  (b) enforcement of regulations on the control of fireworks; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 6 November 2006
	I have received a small number of representations from members of the public on the effectiveness and enforcement of the fireworks regulations.
	My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Employment Relations and Postal Services set out the Government position on fireworks in the Adjournment Debate on 6 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 689-92.

Miners' Compensation

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners have received a full and final payment of less than £1,000 for chronic bronchitis and emphysema in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: The number of miners who have received payments of less than £1,000 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the last three years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of claims settled by payment( 1) 
			 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004 14,630 
			 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005 15,109 
			 1 January 2006 to 31 October 2006 6,842 
			 Total 36,581 
			 (1)where total value is less than £1,000 in period

Mr. David Mills

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigations or inquiries the Government have initiated during the last three years into the dealings of Mr. David Mills in connection with the sale of aviation spare parts and equipment to Iran in contravention of United Nations and European Union trade sanctions; and what the results were.

Ian McCartney: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Nuclear Power

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with his European Union counterparts on the proposed co-ordination of nuclear power research programmes across the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has had numerous discussions with regard to the Euratom Framework Programme 7 (FP7) covering research into fusion energy and nuclear fission and radiation protection. Negotiations on FP7 continue and agreement with the European Parliament is expected at the second reading at the end of November.
	Lord Sainsbury, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, has had several discussions with member states covering wider FP7 negotiations in which Euratom was included as part of the discussions.

Nuclear Waste

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the cost of disposing of the nuclear waste resulting from  (a) British Energy's nuclear power stations and  (b) the Ministry of Defence's nuclear weapons and nuclear powered craft.

Malcolm Wicks: The NDA assess British Energy's estimated costs for decommissioning and radioactive waste disposal each year (as set out in British Energy's annual liabilities report). This is consistent with the figures reported in British Energy's annual report and accounts.
	The Ministry of Defence will provide details in due course after further investigation when the Minister will respond in writing.

Personal Borrowing (Interest Rates)

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms are in place to protect consumers from unduly high interest rates on personal borrowing; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Currently section 137 and 138 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 regulate extortionate credit bargains. These ensure that where bargains are extortionate, the courts may reopen the credit agreement and set aside the whole or part of any obligation on the debtor, require the creditor to repay the whole or part of the sums paid, to return surety or alter the terms of the agreement. These provisions will be replaced by a test of whether a credit relationship is unfair when the Consumer Credit Act 2006 comes into force. This will enable the courts to take into account all the circumstances of the relationship between the borrower and lender, not just the terms of the agreement when it was made. The new Act will also strengthen the test of fitness to hold a consumer credit licence and provide the Office of Fair Trading with greater powers to take action against lenders who do not behave in a fit and proper manner.
	In addition, we have already introduced new legislation to ensure that consumers are more aware of the terms and conditions associated with any credit agreement before they sign. This increase in transparency will enable consumers to shop around with confidence, choosing the right product to suit their needs.
	The Government will continue to monitor the impact of these measures.

Post Offices

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent introducing the Post Office Card Account.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for the City of York (Hugh Bayley) on 27 February 2006,  Official Report, column 138W.

Renewable Energy

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on plans to stimulate the development of renewable energy technologies through the planning system.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 6 November 2006
	My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and I have held regular discussions with the Department of Communities and Local Government on a range of energy issues including the development of renewable energy technologies through the planning system.

Timber

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take the conclusions of the Forestry Commission's report United Kingdom: New Forecast of Softwood Availability into account in his Renewables Obligation Statutory Consultation to the Renewables Obligation Order 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government will consider the Forestry Commission's report United Kingdom: New Forecast of Softwood Availability as part of the statutory consultation on the Renewables Obligation Order 2007. The consultation closes on 15 December. All responses and other relevant information will be considered together at that point.

Departmental Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much was spent by her Office in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation  (a) in the UK and  (b) abroad for (i) herself, (ii) staff and (iii) other persons in each year since 2001-02.

Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government do not hold the information in the form requested which can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House. Information for the financial year 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the current financial year.
	All expenditure is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in, Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and the Civil Service Management Code.

Departmental Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was spent by  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02.

Mike O'Brien: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General how much was spent by his Department on food and alcohol for its staff working out of office in each year since 2001-02.

Mike O'Brien: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Staff

Harry Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General if his Department will  (a) carry out an age audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its work force,  (b) negotiate an age management policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers,  (c) identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to downshift towards retirement and  (d) extend to over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) carried out an age audit of its staff in the summer of 2005 and 2006; the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) produces a monthly HR report to its board which includes detailed statistics on the age profile of its work force; the RCPO has now adopted staff profiling and a new database will enable regular age audits; the Treasury Solicitor's Department keeps a record of the age profile of its staff and HMCPSI plans to carry out an age profile of its staff in the near future.
	 (b) The CPS carried out a review of all human resources policies to ensure they were age compliant, as a result has updated its retirement age policy to reflect the new contractual retirement age of 65; the SFO has taken steps to remove any potentially discriminating measures as regards age, for example, by changing its policy on annual leave, the SFO also offers a flexible policy, allowing staff to select a retirement age of 60-65; the RCPO is drafting new retirement policy and procedure and will consult Union representatives before implementing; the Treasury Solicitor's Department and HMCPSI ensures that all terms and conditions of employment are applied equally to staff of all ages.
	 (c) The Treasury Solicitor's Department, the CPS, the SFO and HMCPSI identifies and supports training needs for all its employees, irrespective of their age; RCPO has doubled its training budget this year and will continue to support the training and development needs of all staff.
	 (d) In the Law Officers' Departments all employees, irrespective of age, can request to work flexible hours and the flexible working policy ensures that all requested are treated fairly.

Fraud

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what the levels of serious fraud have been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Fraud is by its nature surreptitious and highlighted the fact that at present there are no entirely reliable estimates of either levels of fraud, or the cost of fraud to the economy as a whole. The report set out in an annex existing methodologies for measuring fraud; but went on to recommend the establishment of a measurement unit, within a national fraud strategic authority, which would have the responsibility for producing accurate measurements of the extent of fraud and which would track the success of initiatives to tackle that fraud.

Concorde

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has had discussions with British Airways about maintaining a flightworthy Concorde for use on special occasions.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Gillian Merron).

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in her Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department makes bonus payments to its staff for two purposes:  (a) special bonuses to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and  (b) performance bonuses to reward highly successful performance over a whole year.
	
		
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  (a) Special bonuses  
			 Number(1) of staff awarded special bonuses 85 91 111 68 117 
			 Percentage of workforce 21.3 19.8 21.9 13.3 22.9 
			 Total value of special bonuses (£) 28,850 (2)— 42,040 38,181 53,436 
			   
			  (b) Performance bonuses  
			 Number(1) of staff awarded performance bonuses 159 78 104 104 123 
			 Percentage of workforce 39.8 17.0 20.6 20.4 24.1 
			 Total value of performance bonuses (£) 50,576 106,128 164,603 177,104 239,805 
			 (1) In any one year, some staff may receive both a special bonus and an end year performance bonus.  (2 )This information is not available. 
		
	
	The largest single bonus payments for each year were as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2001-02 2,000 
			 2002-03 3,500 
			 2003-04 5,000 
			 2004-05 7,000 
			 2005-06 6,000

Ministerial Travel

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel in her Department.

Shaun Woodward: DCMS is developing a carbon offsetting scheme to cover air, rail and road travel by the department, including Ministers. We intend to offer our sponsored bodies the opportunity to join the scheme, which we expect to launch early next year.

New Opportunity Fund

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 2049-50W, on the New Opportunity Fund, what further  (a) awards and  (b) payments have been made from the New Opportunities Fund for physical education and sport in the 2006-07 financial year.

Richard Caborn: To date this financial year, the value of  (a) awards made is £23,604,058 and  (b) payments made is £136,682,282.
	These figures do not include grants which have funded sport indirectly.

Olympic Games

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the use of Welsh sporting venues in connection with the 2012 London Olympics.

Richard Caborn: The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host group stages of the football competition in the 2012 Olympic games.
	Sports Cabinet brings together all four of the UK home countries to consider and contribute to the development of sport at a policy and strategic level which will have an impact on a UK-wide basis. The Sports Cabinet already includes as a standing agenda item a regular update on all aspects of 2012. The Secretary of State is keen that this is maintained to ensure that issues impacting the devolved Administrations are fully discussed.
	The Government are determined that the whole of the UK, including Wales, can contribute to and benefit from the 2012 Olympic games and Paralympic games. A Nations and Regions Group (NRG), comprising representatives from every region and nation, has been established to provide leadership and strategic direction. Wales is represented by Gareth Hall, Director of the Department of Enterprise, Innovation and Networks of the Welsh Assembly Government.
	Areas of potential benefit include business opportunities, hosting pre games training camps, tourism, culture and volunteering opportunities. Wales, through the NRG, is developing a delivery plan to ensure that these opportunities are maximised.
	As part of this process Wales has venues that could be used to provide facilities for pre games training and for the holding camps that a country's National Olympic Committee (NOC) and/or National Paralympic Committee (NPC) may choose to set up prior to the games.
	In order to assist NOCs and NPCs, the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) is putting together a 'Pre Games Training Camp Guide' in which facilities in the UK that have been selected as providing a suitable training environment are listed by location and by sport.
	LOCOG have released details on their website, inviting expressions of interest from potential host facilities. Applications can be made on the London 2012 website: www.london2012.com/trainingcamps <http://www.london2012.com/trainingcamps>. Applications will initially be assessed locally with selection coordinated by each nation and region. A proposed list of facilities will then be submitted to LOCOG for final selection. The guide will be distributed to NOCs and NPCs in July 2008.

Olympic Games

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with  (a) the current board and  (b) potential owners of West Ham United about the ownership of the London 2012 stadiums.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 6 November 2006
	On 3 July 2006, I and representatives of the other Olympic stakeholders met the Mayor of Newham and representatives of West Ham United to discuss the legacy of the Olympic stadium. The Minister for Sport and officials have also had exploratory discussions with those with a potential interest in the legacy use of the stadium. I have held no discussions with any potential owners of West Ham United.

Afghanistan

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of school attendance rates for  (a) boys and  (b) girls in Afghanistan in the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Government of Afghanistan Ministry of Education figures for total enrolment rates in general education are:
	
		
			  million 
			   Girls  Boys  Total 
			 2004 1.3 2.7 4.0 
			 2005 1.7 3.2 4.9 
			 2006 1.9 3.5 5.4 
		
	
	DFID has not made any assessment of school attendance rates as we do not provide direct assistance to the education sector, with the exception of very limited support (£47,000) for primary education of refugees in 2001-02. Our support to the education sector has been channelled through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). This plays a big part in meeting the recurrent costs such as wages and salaries of teachers and school materials. ARTF resources cover over 90 per cent. of the Ministry of Education's wage bill and teachers' salaries represent almost 40 per cent. of ARTF recurrent expenditures. DFID funds a third of these expenditures.
	Other donors have taken the lead in providing direct support to the education sector, including the World Bank, USAID and United Nations Agencies. The UK is therefore also supporting the education sector through its contributions to multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank and UN.

IT Projects

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-web-related information technology projects cost his Department more than £500,000 since 2001; how many qualified tender proposals there were for each project; and which company was awarded each contract.

Hilary Benn: DFID has awarded the following contracts for IT projects costing more than £500,000 since 2001:
	
		
			  Project  Description  Qualified tenders  Awarded to: 
			 HR System Human Resources administration system 3 Northgate HR Ltd (formally known as Rebus Software Ltd) 
			 QUEST Electronic Document and Record Management System 6 LogicaCMG UK Ltd 
			 ARIES Finance, Procurement and Reporting system 5 Agresso Ltd 
		
	
	All three projects were for systems which are primarily aimed at efficient internal administration within DFID. However QUEST and ARIES have small components which deliver web-facing solutions, these components are fully integrated into the systems which were delivered in the contracts.

IT Projects

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on  (a) equipment and  (b) consultants for (i) information technology and (ii) web-facing information technology projects in each year since 2001.

Hilary Benn: The following spend has been made in each financial year since 2001:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Equipment  Consultants 
			 2001-02 1,432,698 2,038,585 
			 2002-03 1,290,697 1,700,387 
			 2003-04 4,117,171 1,257,825 
			 2004-05 3,341,147 2,102,610 
			 2005-06 2,718,913 7,853,737 
		
	
	The figures for consultants include contractors engaged for implementation work on new IT systems. DFID does not keep separate records of the cost of IT consultants engaged in an advisory capacity.
	The figures for equipment cover hardware purchased for major IT projects. They do not include small routine equipment purchases and computer consumables.
	DFID's IT projects in this period have been primarily aimed at efficient internal administration. However some projects have small components which deliver web-facing solutions. These components are fully integrated into the systems and it is not possible to separate out their costs.
	The high figure for consultants in 2005-06 arises because it includes the costs for the implementation contractors engaged following competitive tender for the QUEST Electronic Document and Records Management system and the ARIES finance, procurement and reporting system.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what monitoring and evaluation system is used to measure the effectiveness and impact of his Department's overseas development aid.

Hilary Benn: DFID has a comprehensive database system containing data on all projects and programmes that have been approved and have spent funds since 1 April 1992.
	We assess the performance of all our projects and programmes of £1 million or more on an annual basis and on completion. Each project/programme is scored using a five-point scale, which assess the degree to which it meets its objectives.
	Reviews may be undertaken by the project/programme team, by external consultants or in conjunction with other donors, partner governments or other external stakeholders. All reviews are scrutinised by Heads of Office or Department. A sample is reviewed in depth by our Internal Audit and Evaluation Departments when undertaking country programme audits and studies. Our Corporate Strategy Group undertakes ad hoc spot checks on compliance in project and programme reviews, and commissions external assessments of samples of reviews where appropriate.
	As well as country programme evaluations, the work of Evaluation Department (EvD) includes a series of independent studies which measure effectiveness and impact across a range of sectors relevant to DFID's current agenda, from HIV/AIDS to Budget Support, from Anti-Corruption to Gender Equality. EvD studies are carried out by external professional evaluation experts who are free to produce objective and challenging reports for both accountability and lesson-learning purposes.

Benefits

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Islington North constituency are in receipt of  (a) income support and  (b) jobseeker's allowance; how many are (i) under 18, (b) between 18 and 25 and (c) over 25 years old; and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last four financial years.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in following the tables.
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants in the Islington North parliamentary constituency as at February each year, and by age group. 
			   All  Under 18  18-25  26 and over 
			 2002 3,540 20 740 2,780 
			 2003 3,460 20 770 2,650 
			 2004 3,420 20 870 2,520 
			 2005 3,150 20 880 2,240 
			 2006 3,450 20 1,010 2,410 
		
	
	
		
			  Income support claimants in the Islington North parliamentary constituency as at February each year, and by age group. 
			   All  Under 18  18-25  26 and over 
			 2002 8,350 70 920 7,360 
			 2003 8,140 50 920 7,180 
			 2004 8,120 60 920 7,140 
			 2005 8,100 50 980 7,070 
			 2006 8,130 50 930 7,150 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Additionally, for jobseeker's allowance there are a few claimants each year whose age is "unknown" due to recording problems.  3. Income support figures exclude residual minimum income guarantee claimants.  4. Jobseeker's allowance figures are not seasonally adjusted.   Source:  Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS

Benefits

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Islington North constituency are in receipt of  (a) tax credits,  (b) child tax credits,  (c) state pension and  (d) pension credit; and what the equivalent figures were in each of the last four financial years.

James Purnell: Estimates for tax credits and child tax credits are provided by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Their estimates for 2003-04 and 2004-05 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2003-04 Geographical Analysis" and the "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2004-05 Geographical Analysis". These publications and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families by constituency with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2005-06 are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm.
	
		
			  Pension credit recipients( 1) , individual beneficiaries and state pensions recipients as at February each year from 2003-06, Islington North parliamentary constituency 
			  Thousands 
			   Pension credit total claimants  Pension credit total individual beneficiaries  State pension recipients 
			 February 2006 4.73 5.49 9.09 
			 February 2005 4.68 5.40 9.13 
			 February 2004 4.25 4.93 9.20 
			 February 2003 — — 9.33 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are taken from the WPLS 100 per cent. data.  2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest ten and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.  4. Pension credit claimants are those people who claim pension credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of pension credit.  5. Pension credit individual beneficiary figures count total number of individuals in benefit units where pension credit is in payment. Therefore, each couple benefit unit is counted as two individual beneficiaries.  6. Pension credit was introduced in October 2003.   Source:  JDWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the total administrative cost of the benefit system, broken down by benefit; and what the administrative cost of the benefit system was in 1997.

James Plaskitt: The information requested on total administrative costs is not available in the format requested. The Department has recently commenced the implementation of a new Resource Management System, which when fully commissioned is intended to produce this type of information. DWP has developed an interim solution to provide operational unit costs by benefit for 2004-05, however the administration costs on which the unit costs are based exclude non-recurrent costs, other DWP activities, policy and other central costs. Consequently analysis of total administration costs broken down by benefit is not available.
	The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. Therefore data is not available prior to that date.
	In the meantime, the latest available data on total administrative costs, taken from the 2004-05 published accounts of each agency (net of income) is as noted in the following table. Figures for 2005-06 are not yet available.
	
		
			  Agency  2004-05 (£ million outturn 
			 Child Support 326 
			 Appeals Service 66 
			 Jobcentre Plus 3,148 
			 Pension Service 831 
			 Disability and Carers Service (Part Year) 120 
			 Rent Service 39 
		
	
	The administration costs for Jobcentre Plus also include the costs of administering labour market activities. The costs for the Pension Service also include the costs of delivering pensions forecasts.
	The major benefits administered by each Agency are as follows:
	
		
			  Agency  Benefit 
			 Job Centre Plus Jobseekers Allowance 
			  Incapacity Benefit 
			  Income Support 
			  Social Fund 
			 Pension Service State Pension 
			  Pension Credit 
			 Disability and Carers Service Disability Living Allowance 
			  Carers Allowance 
			  Attendance Allowance

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 30 January,  Official Report, column 253W, on benefits, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since January.

Anne McGuire: The most recent available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) leavers by destination during periods shown. 
			   IB/ SDA claims ending in the last six months( 1)  IB/SDA claims ending in the last 12 months( 2)  IB/SDA claims ending in the last seven years( 3) 
			 Total Number of claims ending 328,400 681,900 5,138,200 
			 Transfer to other benefits(4) 77,000 161,100 1,273,900 
			 Return to IB/SDA(5) 14,400 30,500 254,800 
			 Reach retirement age or are recorded as moving to state pension 27,000 56,800 421,000 
			 Recorded as death of claimant 11,900 25,600 183,100 
			 Recorded as returned to work(6) 15,300 29,800 159,400 
			 Residual unknown destinations 182,800 378,200 2,845,900 
			 (1) IB/SDA claims ending in the last six months include IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 June 2005 to 30 November 2005. It is not possible to use the latest IB/SDA terminations (February 2006) as it would not give enough data to determine if they transfer to other benefits or return to IB/SDA.  (2) IB/SDA claims ending in the last 12 months include IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 December 2004 to 30 November 2005.  (3) IB/SDA claims ending in the last seven includes IB/SDA claims terminating from 1 December 1998 to 30 November 2005.  (4) Those transferring to other benefits include those moving onto IS/PC, JSA, WFTC, DPTC within 90 days of the IB/SDA claim ending.  (5) Return to IB/SDA includes those claimants who make another claim to IB/SDA within 90 days of their previous claim terminating.  (6) It is known that the number recorded as returning to work underestimates the true situation. It is not possible to determine the number that moved to employment, however the "Destinations of Benefit Leavers 2004" report showed that 62 per cent. of IS, JSA and IB leavers entered employment of 16 hours or more a week. This compares to 61 per cent. in 2003, it is therefore expected that this proportion is fairly consistent over time.   Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred totals may not sum due to rounding.  2. Numbers are based on five per cent samples, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.  3. Destinations of terminated IB/SDA claims are assigned in the priority order shown above.  4. Figures for the "last six months" and "last 12 months" given above will increase significantly following receipt of late notifications.   Source:  Information Directorate, five per cent samples (terminations dataset). 
		
	
	
		
			  Incapacity Benefit (IB) commencements where the claimant had formerly claimed IB in the previous 12 months: Great Britain 
			   All commencements  Commencements with former IB claim in previous 12 months  Percentage 
			 February 2002 173,100 33,300 19.2 
			 February 2003 173,300 32,000 18.5 
			 February 2004 167,400 31,000 18.5 
			 February 2005 155,700 28,500 18.3 
			 February 2006 108,400 21,500 19.9 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.  2. Commencement figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major increases in future quarters.  3. Earlier quarters have been updated to include late notified terminations, including terminations for state pension.   Source:  Information Directorate, five per cent samples (terminations dataset).

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2006,  Official Report, column 246W, on benefits, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since January.

Anne McGuire: The information for quarters that has become available since January 2006 is in the table.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit commencements already in receipt of income support by quarter 
			  Thousand and percentage 
			   All incapacity benefit commencements  Those already in receipt of income support  Percentage of all incapacity benefit commencements 
			 August 2005 153.8 15.0 10 
			 November 2005 153.5 14.5 9 
			 February 2006 108.4 9.9 9 
			  Notes:  1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 and expressed in thousands.  2. Numbers are based on a five per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only.  3. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total commencements for May 2004 increased by 18 per cent. in the year following their initial release.  4. Income support figures will include a small number of minimum income guarantee and pension credit claimants.  5. Incapacity benefit figures exclude severe disability allowance, since there are no new severe disability allowance commencements.   Source:  DWP Information Directorate five per cent sample.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 30 January,  Official Report, column 257W, on benefits, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since January.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The most recent, available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) claimants by diagnosis group: Great Britain, February 2006 
			   Number 
			 All diagnoses 2,747,490 
			 Claimants without any diagnosis code on the system 50 
			 Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases 20,500 
			 Neoplasms 40,570 
			 Diseases of the Blood and Blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism 4,530 
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 39,410 
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,093,110 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 166,340 
			 Diseases of the Eye and Adnexa 19,620 
			 Diseases of the Ear and Mastoid Process 11,730 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 160,720 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 63,000 
			 Diseases of the Digestive System 42,500 
			 Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous System 16,530 
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 506,710 
			 Diseases of the Genito-urinary System 19,630 
			 Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium 4,360 
			 Certain Conditions Originating in the Perinatal Period 30 
			 Congenital Malformations, Deformations and Chromosomal Abnormalities 25,370 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 322,990 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 153,350 
			 Factors influencing Health Status and Contact with Health Services 36,450 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. 'Claimant' figures include all IB/SDA claimants, including IB credits only cases.  3. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, published by the World Health Organisation.   Source:  Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data

Benefits

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Government's policy is on the recovery of overpaid housing benefit.

James Plaskitt: The recovery principles for housing benefit and council tax benefit are contained in the housing benefit/council tax benefit Overpayments Guide, which can be found on the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/manuals/overpay/
	There have also been two administrative circulars, A4/2006 and A13/2006, issued this year, which cover the overpayments regulation changes that were made in April 2006 and a Tribunal of Commissioners' decision covering overpayments policy matters. The guidance given in the circulars will be incorporated into the Guide in a forthcoming update. The circulars can currently be found on the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/hbctb/2006/

Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio of claims for incapacity benefit and its predecessors to claims for jobseeker's allowance and its predecessors was in each year since 1976-77.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Sickness benefit, invalidity benefit, incapacity benefit, severe disablement benefit, unemployment benefit, jobseeker's allowance claimant count in Great Britain 
			   SB/IVB/IB/SDA claimants  JSA claimants  IB claimants as a proportion of JSA claimants 
			 June 1977 1,108,300 1,100,300 1.01 
			 June 1978 1,241,800 1,087,200 1.14 
			 June 1979 1,262,500 1,006,400 1.25 
			 May 1980 1,236,400 1,154,000 1.07 
			 May 1981 1,225,400 2,025,900 0.60 
			 May 1982 1,345,000 2,374,100 0.57 
			 April 1983 1,346,700 2,635,600 0.51 
			 March 1984 1,263,900 2,748,600 0.46 
			 March 1985 1,326,500 2,867,200 0.46 
			 April 1986 1,398,200 2,956,300 0.47 
			 April 1987 1,415,400 2,789,600 0.51 
			 April 1988 1,538,700 2,250,300 0.68 
			 April 1989 1,667,100 1,715,500 0.97 
			 March 1990 1,802,900 1,488,000 1.21 
			 March 1991 1,972,000 1,982,600 0.99 
			 April 1992 2,199,700 2,561,600 0.86 
			 April 1993 2,430,100 2,821,000 0.86 
			 April 1994 2,578,700 2,577,400 1.00 
			 April 1995 2,755,100 2,231,000 1.23 
			 February 1996 2,850,500 2,119,300 1.34 
			 February 1997 2,837,100 1,684,800 1.68 
			 February 1998 2,809,000 1,321,400 2.13 
			 February 1999 2,740,500 1,248,900 2.19 
			 February 2000 2,724,000 1,108,500 2.46 
			 February 2001 2,792,000 959,000 2.91 
			 February 2002 2,787,200 914,100 3.05 
			 February 2003 2,818,600 907,900 3.10 
			 February 2004 2,819,200 855,900 3.29 
			 February 2005 2,799,900 789,900 3.54 
			 February 2006 2,747,500 896,700 3.06 
			  Notes:  1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.  2. Data is taken from one per cent and five per cent samples, and 100 per cent WPLS data five per cent samples have been uprated.  3. JSA figures are based on seasonally adjusted figures and only include claimants aged 18 & over.  4. JSA replaced Unemployment Benefit and Income Support for the unemployed in October 1996.  5. IB replaced Sickness/Invalidity Benefit in April 1995.   Source:  Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). Information Directorate, five per cent samples. 100 per cent Count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.

Child Support

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of inviting existing claimants of child support to reapply under the new system;
	(2)  whether Sir David Henshaw has reported on the policy and implementation issues arising from his first report;
	(3)  when he expects to bring forward legislation to remove the requirement that all parents with care claiming benefit be treated as applying for child maintenance;
	(4)  when he expects to confirm details of the increase in child maintenance disregard;
	(5)  when he expects to publish the White Paper on the Child Support Agency; and when he expects to publish the responses to his consultation on the agency;
	(6)  what estimate he has made of the annual running costs of  (a) two agencies in tandem and  (b) three systems of claims in relation to handling child support cases;
	(7)  when the consultation on a possible charging regime for using the new child support system will  (a) be established and  (b) conclude.

James Plaskitt: We are currently developing plans for introducing a new system of child support. As art of this we are considering the most cost effective way of moving to, and administering, the new system, the level of the disregard, and the role of any charging.
	We are carrying out an intensive programme of work to determine the way forward and plan to publish detailed proposals in a White Paper later this year. This will include details of the responses to the consultation which ended on 18 September.

Child Support

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases non-resident parents who owe maintenance have  (a) made no payments in the last six months; and  (b) never made any payments.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive.
	He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 7 November 2006:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases non-resident parents who owe maintenance have (a) made no payments in the last six months, and (b) never made any payments.
	In the six months to June 2006, 69% of cases where maintenance was due had either received a payment via the collection service or had a Maintenance Direct arrangement in place. 31% of cases had received no payments.
	Unfortunately it is not possible to provide information for part (b) for the Old Scheme as the data only goes back to August 1995 and is therefore incomplete. However, in the month ending June 2006, the Agency had received payments from 74 per cent of cases on the new scheme where maintenance payments were due, via the collection service, or cases had Maintenance Direct arrangement in place. 26 per cent of current new scheme cases have never received any payments.
	I hope you find this answer useful.

Child Support

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Child Support Agency will be closed ; who the chief executive will be of the new agency; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: We are currently developing plans for introducing a new system of child support. As part of this we are considering the most cost effective way of creating and moving to a new organisation to manage future claims for child support.
	We are carrying out an intensive programme of work to determine the way forward and plan to publish detailed proposals in a White Paper later this year.

Departmental Redundancies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many redundancies there were in his Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of such redundancies was in each such year; how many temporary staff were employed in each such year; and how many staff were seconded by outside organisations to the Department in each such year.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 bringing together the former Department of Social Security and the former Employment Service.
	The number of staff full-time equivalent (FTE) staff leaving the Department on all types of early release schemes and under inefficiency dismissal with compensation in each complete financial year since its formation is in the following table. The costs of all these types of releases have been included in the figures below since the costs arising from the dismissals cases are not separately identifiable.
	
		
			   Expenditure (£ million)  Number of staff (FTE) 
			 2002-03 19.43 271 
			 2003-04 16.12 318 
			 2004-05 14.91 930 
			 2005-06 138.3 3,143 
			 Total 188.6 4,662 
			  Notes:  1. The figures do not include the provisions made in the accounts for costs associated with staff approved for early release in 2006-07.  2. Costs include the ongoing costs in respect of early releases dating from 1997-98 in the Benefits Agency, part of the Department of Social Security. 
		
	
	The number of temporary staff employed at 31 March in each year is shown in the following table. The figures are full-time equivalent.
	
		
			   Number of temporary staff (FTE) 
			 31 March 2003 2,685 
			 31 March 2004 4,381 
			 31 March 2005 2,023 
			 31 March 2006 1,419 
		
	
	Information is not available on the numbers of people seconded by outside organisations to within the Department.

Deprivation Cycle

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his Department's Opportunity for All report 2006, column 6915-I, what the evidential basis is for the statement in the foreword on the cycle of deprivation in 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The evidential basis is set out in the Government's annual report 'Opportunity for all', columns 6915-I and II. The indicators within 'Opportunity for all' are wide-ranging and designed to monitor progress on poverty and social exclusion. This year's report reveals that 40 of the 59 indicators have moved in the right direction since the baseline of 1997.

Employment Programme Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding his Department provided for employment programme centres in each county in England and Wales in each year for which figures are available.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking about the funding provided by Jobcentre Plus for employment programme centres in each county in England and Wales in each year for which figures are available. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus does not collect or retain financial data at county level. However I am able to provide the amount of funding for programme centre provision in Great Britain in each of the following years:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2002-03 16.1 
			 2003-04 19.4 
			 2004-05 21.4 
			 2005-06 13.8 
			 2006-07 (1)14.0 
			 (1 )budget for current year 
		
	
	The amount of funding for 2005-06 and the allocation for 2006-07 are available by region in the following table.
	
		
			  Region  2005-06  2006-07 
			 East Midlands 0.2 0.9 
			 East of England 0.8 1.0 
			 London 2.2 2.3 
			 North East 0.6 0.8 
			 North West 0.6 1.9 
			 Scotland 3.1 1.6 
			 South East 1.6 1.2 
			 South West 1.1 0.8 
			 Wales 1.7 0.8 
			 West Midlands 1.4 1.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0.5 1.3 
			 Total 13.8 14.0

Employment Programme Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what criteria his Department uses to evaluate bids to provide employment programme centres;
	(2)  whether his Department has measures in place to ensure that large contractors are not favoured over smaller contractors when bidding to provide employment programme centres.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking what criteria his Department uses to evaluate bids to provide employment programme centres and whether his Department has measures in place to ensure that large contractors are not favoured over smaller contractors when bidding to provide them. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The evaluation criteria for the recent bids to run Programme Centres were, in priority order:
	experience and performance;
	knowledge of customer groups and their needs;
	knowledge and experience of working with employers;
	knowledge and experience of the district/region;
	involvement and links with local organisations;
	proposals for delivery;
	organisation infrastructure, management and capacity;
	human resource;
	quality standards and evaluation;
	implementation plan to delivery;
	premises and facilities;
	record keeping and administration;
	marketing and referrals
	Bids for all our contracts are evaluated by qualified procurement professionals strictly on their merits; there is no presumption in favour of large organisations over smaller ones.
	Jobcentre Plus actively encourages an innovative and competitive marketplace and works with larger providers to ensure that they understand the need to achieve diversity in the service delivery for all of our provision, including Programme Centres. To ensure that optimum use is made of the specialist services offered by smaller providers we facilitate the interface between contractors and sub-contractors through a variety of means, including discussions with trade associations, and notices placed on the Jobcentre Plus website www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk (Partners page).
	As part of the tender evaluation process, we ask bidders to tell us how they will fully meet the varied needs of all customers; it is generally unlikely that any one provider could adequately demonstrate their ability to meet all of these needs without some specialist support. We also ask providers to give details of all their sub-contractors in their tenders and we take into account the skills and experience of the sub-contractors during the tender assessment process.
	I hope this is helpful.

Family/Household Incomes

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of children lived in families in each income decile in each year since 1975-76; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994-95-2004-05'. The survey from which estimates are provided started in 1994-95. There are no suitable data source for years prior to 1994-95.
	Deciles are income values which divide households, when ranked by income, into ten equal-sized groups. No matter what the shape of the income distribution, or how well off or poor people are, there will always be 10 per cent. of the whole population in the bottom decile, just as there will always be 10 per cent. of the whole population in the top decile; and this will be the case in every year.
	The low income threshold is 60 per cent. of median income (Before Housing Costs). This particular threshold is an internationally accepted measure and in Great Britain is almost always in the 2nd decile. Therefore children can be moved above the low income threshold, but still remain in the 2nd decile, and so there will be no change in the figures showing decile distributions from year to year.
	Estimates of the proportion of children living in families in each income decile in each year 1994-95 to 2004-05, are in the following tables. Figures are shown Before and After Housing Costs.
	
		
			  Percentage of children by the income decile of their household—Great Britain, 1994-95 to 2004-05—Before Housing Costs 
			   Decile 
			   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
			 1994-95 12 14 11 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 1995-96 12 13 12 10 11 10 9 8 7 7 
			 1996-97 13 14 11 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 1997-98 13 14 12 11 11 10 8 8 7 6 
			 1998-99 13 14 12 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 1999-2000 12 14 12 11 10 10 9 8 6 6 
			 2000-01 11 14 13 11 11 10 9 8 7 7 
			 2001-02 11 14 13 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 2002-03 11 13 13 11 11 10 9 8 7 7 
			 2003-04 11 13 12 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 2004-05 12 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of children by the income decile of their household—Great Britain, 1994-95 to 2004-05—After Housing Costs 
			   Decile 
			   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
			 1994-95 12 15 11 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 
			 1995-96 13 15 11 11 11 10 9 8 6 6 
			 1996-97 13 16 11 11 11 10 9 7 7 6 
			 1997-98 13 15 11 11 11 10 9 7 6 6 
			 1998-99 14 15 12 11 11 10 8 7 7 6 
			 1999-2000 13 15 12 11 11 10 9 7 6 6 
			 2000-01 12 15 12 12 11 10 8 7 6 6 
			 2001-02 12 15 12 12 11 10 9 7 6 6 
			 2002-03 12 14 12 11 11 9 9 8 7 6 
			 2003-04 12 15 11 12 11 10 9 8 6 6 
			 2004-05 12 15 12 12 11 10 8 8 6 6 
			  Notes:  1. Deciles shown here represent groups of the child population in Great Britain. The lowest decile group is the 10 per cent. of the population with the lowest household incomes. The second decile group contains children whose household incomes are above the lowest decile point but below the second decile point. Successive deciles follow similarly.  2. The percentages by decile are based on the equivalised incomes of households with children. Equivalisation is the process by which the household income is adjusted for size and composition as a proxy for material living standards.  3. All estimates are subject to sampling error and response bias and small changes between years may be influenced by these.  4. Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent. across a year, due to rounding.   Source:  Family Resources Survey

Family/Household Incomes

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average income is of households in social rented accommodation in  (a) England,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London borough.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available below the level of Government Office Region.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  The median income of households in social rented accommodation( 1)  in England and each English region (2004-05 prices) 
			  £ per week equivalent 
			   Before housing costs  After housing costs 
			 England 221 171 
			 North East 206 166 
			 North West 217 173 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 215 176 
			 East Midlands 216 169 
			 Eastern 226 177 
			 London 232 177 
			 South East 237 178 
			 South West 226 174 
			 (1) Social rented accommodation is defined as those living in local authority, New Town, Council, Housing Association, Co-Op or Trust rented accommodation.   Note:  All estimates are calculated using a three year average.   Source:  Family Resources Survey 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people  (a) claimed jobseeker's allowance and  (b) attended a mandatory skills course in each financial year from 2003-04 to 2005-06.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the following table; there are no mandatory skills courses linked to jobseeker's allowance.
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants in Great Britain 
			   Number 
			  2003  
			 April 902,100 
			 May 912,500 
			 June 912,100 
			 July 905,600 
			 August 898,500 
			 September 893,800 
			 October 887,300 
			 November 878,900 
			 December 872,000 
			   
			  2004  
			 January 863,700 
			 February 855,900 
			 March 848,300 
			 April 840,100 
			 May 826,900 
			 June 817,100 
			 July 807,300 
			 August 805,600 
			 September 805,900 
			 October 804,500 
			 November 800,500 
			 December 796,800 
			   
			  2005  
			 January 790,500 
			 February 789,900 
			 March 802,500 
			 April 810,400 
			 May 825,500 
			 June 834,600 
			 July 837,900 
			 August 841,100 
			 September 851,200 
			 October 863,000 
			 November 872,700 
			 December 879,500 
			   
			  2006  
			 January 876,900 
			 February 896,700 
			 March 909,500 
			  Notes:1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 100.2. JSA figures are seasonally adjusted. Source:Count of jobseeker's allowance claimants, Jobcentre Plus computer systems.

Local Housing Allowance

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates his Department has made of the impact of changing the definition for determining the local housing allowance from the mid point of local rents to the median on  (a) the percentage of claimants facing a shortfall between their eligible and contractual rent and  (b) the average size of that shortfall.

James Plaskitt: Any shortfall between the local housing allowance and contractual rent at the time of national roll-out of the local housing allowance will depend on the trends in local rent levels and the accommodation choices made by tenants. The trends in local rent levels up to the point of national roll-out are currently hard to predict and local housing allowance rates will vary across local private rent sector markets and different sizes of property.
	However, we estimate that the majority of new claimants at rollout will gain under the proposed national local housing allowance compared to what they would have been entitled to under the current housing benefit rules.

Mortgage Interest Relief

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department will process the mortgage interest relief benefit claim which Mr. Thompson of Great Headline Crescent, Paignton submitted in May 2005.

James Plaskitt: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	You recently tabled the following Parliamentary Question:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will process the mortgage interest relief benefit claim which Mr Thompson of Great Headline Crescent Paignton submitted in May 2005.
	The Secretary of State asked me to reply to your question and, in that reply, I promised to write to you directly concerning your constituent Mr Thompson of Headline Crescent, Paignton.
	I should begin by explaining that mortgage interest relief benefit is not a stand-alone benefit, but forms part of a customer's entitlement to Income Support (IS). In cases where a customer's mortgage was taken out after October 1995, they would not ordinarily qualify for assistance with their mortgage interest payments for the first 39 weeks of their claim.
	Mr Thompson claimed IS on 24 May 2006. When his claim was assessed we decided that he was not entitled to IS at this time as without his mortgage interest payments being taken into account his household income exceeded his IS entitlement.
	Following your enquiry we reviewed Mr Thompson's claim and found that we had overlooked the fact that he had a current claim for Incapacity Benefit dating from 8 May 2005 for which he was receiving National Insurance credits. The effect of this claim was that his mortgage interest payments should have been taken into account from the start of the claim to IS he made on 24 May 2006. I have asked for Mr Thompson's entitlement to be reviewed to establish if he now qualifies for IS or mortgage interest relief from this date, and I am sorry for any inconvenience or distress Mr Thompson has been caused.
	When Mr Thompson submitted his claim for IS on 24 May 2006 he requested that we consider backdating this to 9 May 2005. We wrote to Mr Thompson on 27 July 2006 requesting further information to enable us to consider this request. However, we did not receive the information requested. We therefore asked him again to supply this information on 1 November. When we receive the necessary information we will consider Mr Thompson's claim with the utmost priority and notify him accordingly.
	I hope this is helpful.

Obesity

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2006,  Official Report, column 93W, to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on obesity, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since January.

Anne McGuire: Information is only available on those claiming incapacity benefits whose primary diagnosis is obesity. The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity 
			  £ million—real terms (2006-07 prices) 
			   Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure  Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure  Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure 
			 2000-01 8 13,413 0.06 
			 2001-02 8 13,530 0.06 
			 2002-03 8 13,051 0.06 
			 2003-04 8 12,888 0.07 
			 2004-05 8 12,675 0.07 
			 2005-06 9 12,392 0.07 
		
	
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity 
			  £ million—nominal terms 
			   Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure  Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure  Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure 
			 2000-01 7 11,566 0.06 
			 2001-02 7 11,955 0.06 
			 2002-03 8 11,899 0.06 
			 2003-04 8 12,057 0.07 
			 2004-05 8 12,120 0.07 
			 2005-06 9 12,096 0.07 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are consistent with the historical out-turn expenditure figures published in the DWP's benefit expenditure which can be found on the Department for Work and Pensions website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp  2. Expenditure has been apportioned using data on conditions of IB and SDA recipients from the IB 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.  3. Expenditure refers to the total expenditure directed at working-age adults and any child dependants from IB, SDA and ISDP for those in receipt of IB or SDA.  4. Diagnoses are coded in accordance with the International Classification of Disease (10th edition), published by the World Health Organisation.  5. Figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds.  6. Figures are of working-age claimants only.  7. Real-terms figures are in 2006-07 prices.  8. Expenditure for 2005-06 reflects the latest estimate of out-turn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament.  9. All figures relate to expenditure in Great Britain only.

Opinion Polling

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of opinion polling conducted for his Department in each year from 1996-97 to 2005-06; what the expenditure has been so far in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: My Department carried out limited annual public attitude omnibus surveys between 2001 and 2004. In 2005, in order to make the findings more robust, an increased number of new attitude statements were tested amongst the public prior to being included in omnibus research. In 2005 we also conducted a piece of research to monitor public awareness of the Department and its responsibilities.
	
		
			   Cost (£) 
			 2001 -Public Attitudes - Wave 1 9,350 
			 2002 - Public Attitudes - Wave 2 9,600 
			 2003 - Public Attitudes - Wave 3 10,450 
			 2004 - Public Attitudes - Wave 4 11,100 
			 2005 - Public Attitudes Public Awareness - Wave 5 and New 1 86,000 
			 2006 - Public Attitudes 50,000 
			 2007 Unavailable at this time 
			 Total 160,600

Pathways to Work

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 14 November 2005,  Official Report, columns 1008-09W, to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field), on Pathways to Work, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since November 2005.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Number of incapacity benefit claims that have been terminated in the UK excluding Pathways to Work pilot areas 
			  Quarter ending  All terminations  Terminations outside Pathways to Work areas  Percentage of terminations outside Pathways to Work areas 
			 November 2003 180,300 172,900 95.9 
			 February 2004 165,500 158,500 95.8 
			 May 2004 168,200 150,900 89.7 
			 August 2004 170,200 152,800 89.8 
			 November 2004 170,000 153,900 90.6 
			 February 2005 169,100 153,100 90.5 
			 May 2005 171,000 155,800 91.1 
			 August 2005 158,600 144,600 91.2 
			 November 2005 158,100 143,700 90.9 
			 February 2006 110,400 99,900 90.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of severe disability allowance claims that have been terminated in the UK excluding Pathways to Work pilot areas 
			  Quarter ending  All terminations  Terminations outside Pathways to Work areas  Percentage of terminations outside Pathways to Work areas 
			 November 2003 3,500 3,400 97.7 
			 February 2004 2,800 2,700 93.7 
			 May 2004 2,400 2,200 91.7 
			 August 2004 2,900 2,800 97.9 
			 November 2004 2,600 2,400 93.0 
			 February 2005 3,000 2,800 92.1 
			 May 2005 2,500 2,300 92.9 
			 August 2005 3,200 2,800 87.6 
			 November 2005 2,800 2,600 91.4 
			 February 2006 1,200 1,100 88.5 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Percentages are shown to one decimal place.  2. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters.  3. Earlier quarters have been updated to include late notified terminations, including terminations for state pension.  4. Pathways to work pilot areas were introduced in October 2003 and updated in April 2004. The areas relevant to each quarter have been used ie Bridgend, Renfrewshire and Derbyshire for all quarters, plus Gateshead and South Tyneside, Somerset, Essex and East Lancashire from quarter ending May 2004.   Source:  DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.

Pension Age Addition

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each constituency in the East Midlands receive the retirement pension age addition for those aged 80 years or over.

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			  State pension age addition recipients 
			  Parliamentary constituency  Number 
			 Amber Valley 4,300 
			 Ashfield 4,400 
			 Bassetlaw 3,700 
			 Blaby 3,900 
			 Bolsover 4,300 
			 Boston and Skegness 5,200 
			 Bosworth 4,600 
			 Broxtowe 4,600 
			 Charnwood 4,300 
			 Chesterfield 4,900 
			 Corby 3,900 
			 Daventry 4,200 
			 Derby North 4,400 
			 Derby South 4,100 
			 Erewash 4,700 
			 Gainsborough 4,400 
			 Gedling 4,400 
			 Grantham and Stamford 4,200 
			 Harborough 4,400 
			 High Peak 4,500 
			 Kettering 4,900 
			 Leicester East 3,200 
			 Leicester South 3,100 
			 Leicester West 3,100 
			 Lincoln 4,000 
			 Loughborough 3,800 
			 Louth and Horncastle 5,400 
			 Mansfield 4,200 
			 Newark 4,600 
			 North East Derbyshire 4,100 
			 North West Leicestershire 4,400 
			 Northampton North 3,900 
			 Northampton South 4,400 
			 Nottingham East 3,000 
			 Nottingham North 4,000 
			 Nottingham South 3,300 
			 Rushcliffe 5,600 
			 Rutland and Melton 5,000 
			 Sherwood 4,400 
			 Sleaford and North Hykeham 5,300 
			 South Derbyshire 4,800 
			 South Holland and the Deepings 5,200 
			 Wellingborough 4,500 
			 West Derbyshire 5,700 
			  Notes:  1. Data is taken from the five per cent. extract of the Pension Service Computer System as at September 2005, and the figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall case load from the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study.  2. The figures are rounded to the nearest 100.  3. The boundaries of parliamentary constituencies do not correspond exactly to Government office regions (GOR). As a result, small areas of some parliamentary constituencies listed lie outside the geographical boundaries of East Midlands GOR.   Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate.

Pension Credit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of UK pensioners  (a) entitled to pension credit and  (b) receiving pension credit, broken down by region; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Estimates of eligibility are not available below the level of Great Britain.
	The latest estimates of the number of pensioners in Great Britain entitled to pension credit were published in "Pension Credit Estimates of Take-Up in 2004/2005". A copy of the report is available in the Library.
	The latest estimates of the number of recipients of pension credit by Government Office Region are in the table.
	In Northern Ireland pension credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
	
		
			  Number of pensioners receiving pension credit by Government Office Region, May 2006 
			  Region  Household recipients 
			 All Great Britain 2,718,080 
			 North East 157,360 
			 North West 357,710 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 261,710 
			 East Midlands 196,150 
			 West Midlands 279,490 
			 East of England 224,050 
			 London 290,380 
			 South East 282,440 
			 South West 224,860 
			 Wales 161,310 
			 Scotland 282,620 
			  Notes:1. These figures are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures which are taken from the GMS scan at 26 May 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure.2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.3. Government Office Regions are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS) Pension Credit scan taken as at 26 May 2006.

Pension Credit

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering pension credit in each year since its introduction.

James Purnell: The information requested is not available.
	I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the hon. Member on 18 April 2006,  Official Report, column 431W.

Pensioner Incomes

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking  (a) to reduce and  (b) to eliminate pensioner poverty.

James Purnell: The Government have introduced a suite of measures since 1997 to help older people enjoy a better standard of living, most notably the introduction of the minimum income guarantee and then pension credit; the creation of a dedicated Pension Service to improve service delivery and actively promote take-up of entitlements, above-inflation increases in the basic state pension, winter fuel payments for people over 60 and free television licences for people over 75. The value of the safetynet we provide for the poorest pensioners has increased by a third in real terms since 1997.
	Between 1996-97 and 2004-05 the number of pensioners in Great Britain in relative low income, after housing costs, has fallen by over a third, from 2.8 million to 1.8 million. Once housing costs are accounted for, a pensioner today is now less likely to be in low income than any one else in society.
	The White Paper "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system" (Cm 6841) announced our commitment to secure these gains into the future by uprating both the basic state pension and the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit in line with earnings over the long term.

Pensioners

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) female and  (b) male pensioners there are in each Parliamentary constituency in Wales.

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			  Parliamentary constituencies  Male  Female 
			 Aberavon 5,110 8,330 
			 Alyn and Deeside 5,330 8,790 
			 Blaenau Gwent 4,970 8,400 
			 Brecon and Radnorshire 6,490 10,140 
			 Bridgend 6,290 10,440 
			 Caernarfon 4,960 8,520 
			 Caerphilly 5,690 9,450 
			 Cardiff, Central 3,700 6,190 
			 Cardiff, North 5,730 9,960 
			 Cardiff, South and Penarth 5,680 9,110 
			 Cardiff, West 4,710 8,120 
			 Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr 6,340 10,120 
			 Camarthen, West and South Pembrokeshire 6,490 10,490 
			 Ceredigion 6,130 9,670 
			 Clwyd, South 5,070 8,440 
			 Clwyd, West 6,710 11,120 
			 Conwy 5,950 10,120 
			 Cynon Valley 4,430 7,720 
			 Delyn 5,210 8,470 
			 Gower 6,570 10,780 
			 Islwyn 4,740 7,910 
			 Llanelli 6,290 10,350 
			 Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 3,980 6,460 
			 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 5,000 8,330 
			 Monmouth 7,070 11,790 
			 Montgomeryshire 5,220 7,960 
			 Neath 5,520 9,320 
			 Newport, East 5,180 8,190 
			 Newport, West 5,690 9,580 
			 Ogmore 4,590 7,590 
			 Pontypridd 5,710 9,610 
			 Preseli Pembrokeshire 6,290 10,000 
			 Rhondda 5,340 9,020 
			 Swansea, East 5,200 8,450 
			 Swansea, West 5,850 9,550 
			 Torfaen 5,390 9,100 
			 Vale of Clwyd 6,120 10,170 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 6,950 11,360 
			 Wrexham 4,600 7,950 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are as at February, 2006 and have been rounded to the nearest 10 with extra built-in protection to protect identity.  2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics postcode directory.   Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.

Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the 170,000 private sector employers listed as offering employer pension contributions worth at least 3 per cent. of gross salary in table 1.xiii of the Pensions White Paper, Security in retirement: Towards a New Pension System use automatic enrolment; and how many employees work for  (a) those who use and  (b) those who do not use automatic enrolment.

James Purnell: There is no official statistic of the number requested. However the department has estimated, using data from the Employers Pension Provision Survey (2005) and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Statistics (2004), that about three per cent (5,500 employers rounded to the nearest 100) of the 170,000 private sector employers listed as offering employer pension contributions worth at least 3 per cent. of gross salary in table 1 .xiii of the Pensions White Paper Security in retirement: Towards a New Pension System use automatic enrolment into their largest scheme.
	Of the 9.2 million employees that work for employers offering employer pension contributions worth at least 3 per cent. of gross salary we estimate that  (a) about 1.8 million employees work for those who currently use automatic enrolment; and  (b) about 7.3 million employees work for those who do not currently use automatic enrolment.
	Numbers are rounded to two significant figures.

Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assumption about the level of real earnings growth over the period 2006-07 to 2049-50 underpins the calculations in the Pensions White Paper, Security in retirement: Towards a New Pension System.

James Purnell: For the period to 2010-11, the assumptions on earnings growth used in the White Paper are in line with the economic assumptions described in the Budget 2006 Financial Statement and Budget report. For the period beyond 2010-11, real earnings are assumed to increase at 2 per cent. per year.

Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the net value of state pension and pension credit payments to the median earner illustrated in figure 8 of the White Paper  (a) under current policies and  (b) if the reforms outlined in the Pensions White Paper "Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pension System" are implemented.

James Purnell: Under our reforms, more people will be receiving state pensions based on their national insurance records, and there will be a more generous basic state pension due to the restoration of the earnings link. This will provide a solid foundation for private saving. The guarantee credit will continue to provide a safety net and reforms to the savings credit will reduce the spread of means testing and support the savings incentives, which are integral to the reform package.
	For the median earner illustrated in figure 8, and in today's earnings terms:
	 (a) Under current policies, total contributory state pension (basic state pension and state second pension) would be around £100 a week at state pension age, before any deductions for tax. Under a system with an earnings uprated guarantee credit from 2008, a non-saver would also be entitled to claim pension credit worth about £49 a week, while a saver would be entitled to claim pension credit worth about £36 a week, on top of their £34 a week private pension savings. A saver would have a total state and private income, net of pension credit, of around £170 a week at state pension age.
	 (b) Under White Paper reforms, total contributory state pension (basic state pension and state second pension) would be around £139 a week at state pension age (before any deductions for tax). Whether they were a non-saver or a saver their income would be above the qualifying threshold for pension credit, so they would not see any reduction in the net value of state payments if they chose to make private pension savings. Under current assumptions, their private pension savings would be worth £80 a week, giving a saver total state and private income, net of pension credit, of around £219 a week at state pension age.
	 Notes:
	1. Values are forecasts only. They are dependent upon future assumptions of price and earnings growth, and consequently are subject to revision.
	2. Numbers are shown in 2005-06 earnings terms.
	3. Private pension outcomes are forecast using the assumption is made that under current policy, individuals save using a stakeholder pension at the rate of 3.9 per cent. (the average amount saved currently) and the annual management charge is 1.5 per cent. Under White Paper reforms savings rates are 7 per cent. with a management charge of just 0.5 per cent.
	4. Projections under current policies assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; continued price uprating of the savings credit threshold; and continued price uprating of the basic state pension.
	5. The White Paper reform projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; earnings uprating of the maximum savings credit from 2008 and then by prices from 2015; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper and measures to simplify state second pension from 2012.

Post Office Card Account

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will give a breakdown of the costs incurred to his Department for each type of transaction processed by sub-post offices involving Post Office Card Accounts; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.
	Detailed information on the costs associated with the Post Office card account is a commercial matter for the Post Office and its suppliers.

Travel Warrants (Fraud)

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will cease the practice of job centres writing their clients' name and national insurance number on warrants issued to them for travel in order to reduce opportunities for identity theft.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking if he will cease the practice of jobcentres writing their client's name and national insurance number on warrants issued to them for travel in order to reduce opportunities for identity theft. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Jobcentre Plus's preferred method of dealing with payment of travel expenses is reimbursement of the travel expenses by either cash or cheque, but where the customer is unable to meet the initial travelling expense a travel warrant can be issued in advance.
	When issuing travel warrants, we are not required to enter a National Insurance number and, as an interim measure, a communication will be issued to all staff reminding them to use the customer's name only.
	I share your concern that our processes should protect both customers and the public purse. I have therefore asked my Jobcentre Plus Products and Services Management Division to review our use of National Insurance numbers where there is potential risk of aiding identity fraud.
	I hope this is helpful.

Workless Households

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of households of working age in  (a) social housing and  (b) temporary accommodation were estimated to be in work in each English region in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: Information on the proportion of households of working age in temporary accommodation that are estimated to be in work is not available.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Working age employment rates in social housing 
			  Percentage 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 North East 44 42 41 42 40 
			 North West 42 41 41 42 40 
			 Yorkshire 48 45 46 46 45 
			 East Midlands 47 47 44 48 51 
			 West Midlands 48 45 44 47 45 
			 East of England 58 57 56 35 38 
			 London 44 43 44 43 43 
			 South East 59 59 55 55 55 
			 South West 55 56 54 53 54 
			  Source:Labour Force Survey individual datasets, four-quarterly averages.

Children's Advocacy Services

Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the estimated costs were for provision of children's advocacy services by  (a) National Youth Advocacy Service and  (b) Children and Family Court Advisory Service cited in Separate Representation of Children.

Harriet Harman: The latest Legal Services Commission figures for 2005-06 indicate that the average cost of one legally aided party under the age of 18 in Private Law Section 8 Children Act 1989 (cases applying for contact) is at least £3,330.
	The estimates of costs of a children's guardian by:
	
		
			  (a) National Youth Advocacy Service in the financial years 
			  Financial years (April to March)  £ 
			 2003-04 4,480 
			 2004-05 4,710 
			 2005-06 6,240 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service in the financial years 
			  Financial years (April to March)  £ 
			 2003-04 3,280 
			 2004-05 3,370 
			 2005-06 3,440

Coroners

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of coroners' officers employed by  (a) police forces,  (b) local authorities and  (c) coroners; and what effect she expects the provisions of the draft Coroners Reform Bill to have on the number of officers employed by each.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 6 November 2006
	There are approximately 430 coroners officers in England and Wales. Around 90 per cent. are employed by police forces with the remaining 10 per cent. employed by local authorities. I am not aware of any officers employed directly by the coroner, although some coroners directly employ other support staff. The draft Bill should not directly impact on the number of coroners' officers. Providing the coroner service is currently being resourced locally, there should be no requirement arising from the draft Bill to increase the number of coroners' officers in a particular area.

Data Protection

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs, 
	(1)  what plans she has to amend the Data Protection Act 1998 to allow more data-sharing between public sector bodies; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the timetable is for the Government's plans to amend the data protection principle to facilitate public sector data-sharing.

Vera Baird: We have no plans to amend the Data Protection Act 1998, as it does not prevent the lawful sharing of personal data. As we made clear in the Information-sharing Vision Statement, published in September, Government are committed to greater data sharing—where it is lawful and in the public interest—while ensuring suitable safeguards are in place to protect personal information. The safeguards are provided by the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act, which balance individuals' privacy rights with the need for organisations to use personal data for legitimate purposes. However, we wish to ensure that, as more data are shared, the level of protection reflects the potential risks. We have been consulting on a possible amendment to the Data Protection Act to strengthen the penalties for those who deliberately or recklessly obtain or disclose personal data. The consultation finished on 31 October and we intend to publish the outcome later this year.

Family Courts

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many family courts there are in each London borough.

Harriet Harman: While London's family courts sit within London boroughs they do not specifically serve distinct boroughs.
	London currently supports family work across 32 different venues. 17 of these are magistrates courts and 15 at county courts. London also has a substantial volume of family work heard at the High Court within the Royal Courts of Justice and at the Principal Registry of the Family Division (PRFD) at First Avenue House. Details of the courts within each London borough are as follows.
	There are 32 London boroughs and the City Corporation.
	The Principle Registry of the Family Division also deals with Family work from all 32 boroughs and the City Corporation.
	Family work is not jurisdiction based and applicants can issue proceedings at any Family Court.
	Some county courts have jurisdiction for several London boroughs.
	Barnet—Barnet Family County Court and Barnet FPC work is covered by Barnet Civil and Family Courts Centre
	Enfield—Barnet Family County Court and Enfield FPC work is covered by Barnet Civil and Family Courts Centre/Edmonton County Court
	Haringey—Barnet Family County Court and Haringey FPC work is covered by Barnet Civil and Family Courts Centre/Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court/Edmonton County Court
	Brent—Brent Family Proceedings Court (FPC)/Willesden County Court
	Hillingdon—Hillingdon FPC/Uxbridge FPC/Uxbridge County Court
	Harrow—Harrow FPC)/Willesden County Court
	Waltham Forest—Waltham Forest FPC/Bow County Court
	Redbridge—Redbridge FPC/Ilford County Court/Bow County Court
	Newham—Stratford FPC (including Barking FPC admin and hearings)/Bow County Court
	Barking and Dagenham—Admin and Hearings at Stratford FPC/Ilford County Court/Romford County Court
	Havering—Havering FPC/Romford County Court
	Bromley—Bromley FPC/Bromley County Court
	Bexley—Bexley FPC/Bromley County Court
	Croydon—Croydon FPC/Croydon Combined Court Centre/Wandsworth County Court
	Sutton—Sutton FPC/Croydon Combined Court Centre
	Kingston—Kingston FPC/Kingston County Court
	Merton—Wimbledon FPC/Kingston County Court
	Ealing—Ealing FPC/Acton FPC/Brentford County Court/Uxbridge County Court
	Hounslow—Feltham FPC/Brentford County Court
	Richmond—Richmond FPC/Brentford County Court/Wandsworth County Court
	Hackney—Inner London FPC/Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court
	Tower Hamlets—Inner London FPC/Bow County Court/Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court
	Islington—Inner London FPC/Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court
	Camden—Inner London FPC/Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court
	Westminster—Inner London FPC
	Kensington and Chelsea—Inner London FPC
	City of London—Inner London FPC
	Southwark—Inner London FPC/Lambeth County Court
	Hammersmith and Fulham—Inner London FPC/West London FPC)/Willesden County Court
	Lewisham—Inner London FPC/Bromley County Court/Lambeth County Court/Woolwich County Court
	Lambeth—Inner London FPC/Lambeth County Court/Bromley County Court/ Wandsworth County Court
	Greenwich—Inner London FPC/Woolwich County Court/Bromley County Court
	Wandsworth—Inner London FPC/Wandsworth County Court

Family Courts

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what account she takes of  (a) geographical coverage,  (b) public transport links,  (c) road links and  (d) potential travel costs of (i) members of the public and (ii) social workers when (1) opening and (2) closing family courts.

Harriet Harman: When deciding the locations of family courts all the issues raised by the hon. Member are considered and a diversity impact assessment is conducted.

Family Courts

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases were heard by each family court in London in each of the last five years.

Harriet Harman: The number of cases heard by each family court in London in each of the last three years have been placed in both Libraries of the House. Data for the last five years is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Freedom of Information

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will designate Network Rail a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Vera Baird: We are still considering the impact of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on public bodies covered by the legislation and have not yet reached a view on the use of the power contained in section 5 of the Act which provides for extension of coverage.
	However, Network Rail is required to provide information to the Office of Rail Regulation about its public functions. The Office of Rail Regulation is subject to the Act, and the hon. Member will be free to approach them.

Freedom of Information

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Freedom of Information Act requests received by her Department in the last 12 months were cleared by special advisers before being  (a) accepted and  (b) rejected.

Vera Baird: Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, public authorities are required to accept requests for recorded information submitted in writing by any person. Special advisers in my department operate in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. They have no role in accepting FOI requests.

Judges

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reasons her Department does not maintain a centrally held list of part-time judges in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: My Department, jointly with the Directorate of Judicial Offices, holds records of all judicial office holders, including part-time judges. I refer the hon. Member to my answers given on 2 November 2006,  Official Report, column 553W and 29 June 2006,  Official Report, column 566W.

Judicial Appointments Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the future strategy for recruitment of administrators by the judicial appointments commission.

Harriet Harman: I understand that the judicial appointments commission as an independent non-departmental public body is in the process of developing its strategy for the recruitment of staff.

Legal Aid

John Baron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was spent in legal aid funding on the case of Sutradhar versus Natural Environment Research Council; how much was paid to each  (a) barrister and  (b) the firm of solicitors; and what hourly rate was paid in each case.

Vera Baird: Mr. Sutradhar's claim is one of three lead cases in a multi party action, involving 377 other claimants. The Legal Services Commission is unable to provide case costs relating to the multi party action as the final bills have not yet been paid.
	The hourly rates applied to this action, as set out under the Multi Party Action Arrangements 1999 and contracted at 'risk rates', were £70 per hour for solicitors and £90 per hour for barristers. Within this barristers can share the fees at differing rates, so leading counsel may receive rates above £90 per hour and junior counsel rates below £90 per hour.

Oxford Coroner's Court

Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many inquests are outstanding at Oxford Coroner's Court; and what steps she is taking to assist Oxford Coroner's Court in completing inquests.

Harriet Harman: I refer the right hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 12 October 2006. As of 2 November there were 340 outstanding inquests in Oxfordshire of which 108 relate to deaths of military or civilian personnel who lost their lives in military conflicts or exercises abroad.

UK Constitution

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of a codified constitution for the UK.

Vera Baird: A codified constitution that would authoritatively and definitely bind successive governments would signify a massive constitutional and cultural change in the UK and would represent a fundamental shift in the way in which we are governed.
	The central tenet of our Constitution is that Parliament is sovereign. It is the body whereby the will of the people is expressed via the general election and as such has ultimate authority. Codification would mean that Parliament is no longer sovereign and that the courts would become the ultimate arbiters of our constitution. Drawing up such a constitution would be a very significant undertaking and we are not convinced that there is a strong case to begin such an undertaking at the moment.

Children in Care

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in each local authority area against his Department's target substantially to narrow the gap between the educational attainment and participation of children in care and that of their peers by 2006.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 31 October
	The latest published information on progress towards the Department's target to substantially narrow the gap between the educational attainment and participation of children in care and that of their peers in each local authority in England is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Educational attainment and participation of children looked after 12 months to 30 September 2002 and 12 months to  30 September 2005( 1, 2, 3)  England 
			  Percentage 
			   Performance of looked after children in English and Maths Key Stage 2 tasks and tests, compared with all children( 2, 3)  Of the children looked after in year 11, old enough to sit GCSE or GNVQ exams, the percentage who did not sit any of these exams( 2)  Percentage obtaining at least 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at grade A* to C( 2) 
			  Local authority  2002  2005  2002  2005  2002  2005 
			  England 46 52 42 36 8 11 
			
			  North East 42 55 40 32 6 11 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Durham — 61 18 23 — — 
			 Northumberland — 82 43 43 — 0 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Darlington 0 — 45 — 0 — 
			 Hartlepool — — — — 0 — 
			 Middlesbrough 57 53 — 53 0 — 
			 Redcar and Cleveland — — — 27 0 — 
			 Stockton On Tees — — — 27 — — 
			
			  Metropolitan Districts   
			 Gateshead — — 50 41 — — 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne — — 61 32 — — 
			 North Tyneside — — 44 6 — — 
			 South Tyneside — 70 28 9 — — 
			 Sunderland 49 50 38 34 — — 
			
			  North West   
			  Shire Counties 51 58 42 36 8 11 
			
			 Cheshire — — 8 22 — — 
			 Cumbria 62 57 48 37 — 13 
			 Lancashire 56 73 51 33 10 8 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Blackburn With Darwen 56 63 53 — — 0 
			 Blackpool — — — 35 — — 
			 Halton — 76 — 38 0 — 
			 Warrington — — 0 27 — — 
			
			  Metropolitan Districts   
			 Bolton 80 77 50 44 — — 
			 Bury — 61 — 44 0 — 
			 Knowsley — 57 63 33 0 — 
			 Liverpool 53 68 39 46 10 11 
			 Manchester 58 63 51 34 8 — 
			 Oldham — — 40 45 — — 
			 Rochdale — 68 42 18 0 — 
			 Salford 67 57 32 44 — 22 
			 Sefton — 57 33 25 — — 
			 St. Helens — — 33 57 — — 
			 Stockport — 46 52 16 0 — 
			 Tameside 57 51 47 33 — — 
			 Trafford 57 — — 50 0 — 
			 Wigan 44 54 47 41 — 18 
			 Wirral 63 52 28 30 — — 
			
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 47 56 42 37 4 10 
			  Shire Counties   
			 North Yorkshire 50 58 44 12 — — 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 65 — — 33 — — 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 58 61 33 44 — — 
			 North East Lincolnshire — — 32 46 — — 
			 North Lincolnshire — — 27 25 0 0 
			 York 0 — — — — — 
			
			  Metropolitan Districts   
			 Barnsley — 70 50 38 0 — 
			 Bradford 34 54 53 30 0 14 
			 Calderdale — — — 18 — — 
			 Doncaster 42 — 46 61 — — 
			 Kirklees — — 38 59 — — 
			 Leeds 39 53 39 36 — 14 
			 Rotherham 58 82 54 32 — — 
			 Sheffield 51 70 45 37 — — 
			 Wakefield 59 45 41 45 0 — 
			
			  East Midlands 44 41 42 42 10 10 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Derbyshire 47 41 48 49 13 — 
			 Leicestershire — — 40 38 — — 
			 Lincolnshire — 36 41 38 — — 
			 Northamptonshire — 42 55 49 — 14 
			 Nottinghamshire — 64 25 43 — — 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Derby 49 49 15 38 — — 
			 Leicester — 35 62 25 — — 
			 Nottingham 89 41 39 54 — — 
			 Rutland 0 0 100 100 0 0 
			
			  West Midlands 43 45 39 39 6 12 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Shropshire — — 28 17 — — 
			 Staffordshire 50 36 13 45 — — 
			 Warwickshire — — 39 20 — — 
			 Worcestershire 42 43 26 50 — 24 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Herefordshire — — 47 18 0 — 
			 Stoke-on-Trent — 79 30 38 — 25 
			 Telford and Wrekin — — — — — 0 
			
			  Metropolitan Districts   
			 Birmingham 49 46 48 42 — 10 
			 Coventry — 62 56 38 — — 
			 Dudley 51 52 40 47 0 — 
			 Sandwell — — 33 32 — — 
			 Solihull — — 50 48 — — 
			 Walsall 41 41 8 43 — — 
			 Wolverhampton 40 — 62 38 — — 
			
			  East of England 53 52 42 32 8 9 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Bedfordshire 64 — 34 32 — 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 66 — 38 48 — — 
			 Essex 44 53 44 40 9 8 
			 Hertfordshire 57 57 35 17 — 11 
			 Norfolk 57 57 44 36 10 — 
			 Suffolk 52 53 37 31 15 21 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Luton 77 — 40 31 — — 
			 Peterborough 64 44 44 30 0 0 
			 Southend — 65 56 32 — — 
			 Thurrock — — 61 35 0 — 
			
			  London 46 56 44 35 8 13 
			  Inner London   
			 Camden 88 — 52 37 — 14 
			 City of London 0 0 100 100 0 0 
			 Greenwich 33 65 54 38 — 10 
			 Hackney — 68 51 32  18 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham — — 48 43 9 15 
			 Islington 56 64 40 24 — 14 
			 Kensington and Chelsea — — 60 17 — — 
			 Lambeth 66 57 41 31 13 17 
			 Lewisham — 45 20 50 — — 
			 Southwark 57 53 52 41 — 14 
			 Tower Hamlets — — 16 32 — 23 
			 Wandsworth 46 — 42 31 — — 
			 Westminster — — 50 20 — — 
			
			  Outer London   
			 Barking and Dagenham — 75 33 53 — — 
			 Barnet 58 — 35 31 19 20 
			 Bexley — 50 31 36 — 0 
			 Brent — 79 25 41 — 21 
			 Bromley — 90 60 47 — — 
			 Croydon — — 46 33 8 19 
			 Eating 56 69 49 47 — — 
			 Enfield — 67 36 16 0 — 
			 Haringey — 74 39 40 — 12 
			 Harrow — — 7 — 0 — 
			 Havering — — 44 47 — 0 
			 Hillingdon — — 31 39 — — 
			 Hounslow — — 65 33 0 0 
			 Kingston Upon Thames — 0 36 — — — 
			 Merton — — 32 17 — — 
			 Newham — 47 42 13 — 17 
			 Red bridge — — 53 25 — — 
			 Richmond Upon Thames — — — 27 0 — 
			 Sutton 63 79 54 50 0 — 
			 Waltham Forest — — 78 37 0 — 
			
			  South East 44 47 49 37 8 8 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Buckinghamshire — 66 29 41 — — 
			 East Sussex 47 59 50 26 — — 
			 Hampshire 37 46 48 33 11 8 
			 Kent 45 36 44 44 6 12 
			 Oxfordshire 41 55 60 21 — — 
			 Surrey 59 52 33 31 — 14 
			 West Sussex 38 42 46 40 10 — 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Bracknell Forest — — — — 0 0 
			 Brighton and Hove — 42 57 35 — — 
			 Isle of Wight — — — 18 — — 
			 Medway Towns — 49 56 26 — — 
			 Milton Keynes 52 — 50 65 — — 
			 Portsmouth — — 60 27 — 0 
			 Reading — — — 65 0 — 
			 Slough — — — 31 — — 
			 Southampton 51 — 54 35 — 0 
			 West Berkshire — — — 62 — — 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead — — — — — 0 
			 Wokingham 0 — — — — 0 
			
			  South West 46 48 35 34 11 12 
			  Shire Counties   
			 Cornwall 51 44 26 32 23 — 
			 Devon 61 62 49 22 — — 
			 Dorset — — 52 27 — — 
			 Gloucestershire — 58 26 39 — 18 
			 Isle of Scilly 0 0 100 — 0 0 
			 Somerset — — 7 58 — — 
			 Wiltshire — — 26 39 — — 
			
			  Unitary Authorities   
			 Bath and North East Somerset — — 46 — — — 
			 Bournemouth — — 24 18 — — 
			 Bristol 40 39 43 48 — — 
			 North Somerset — — — — 0 — 
			 Plymouth 55 63 44 28 — — 
			 Poole — — — — 0 0 
			 South Gloucestershire — — — 27 0 — 
			 Swindon — — 50 27 — — 
			 Torbay — — 8 31 — — 
			 (1) Source: DfES—Figures are taken from the OC2 return which collects outcome indicators for looked after children.  (2) Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number but have been suppressed where the numerator was five or less or the denominator was 10 or less, in accordance with National Statistics protocols.  (3) Where either component of the resulting percentage shown was suppressed, the resulting percentage has also been suppressed.

Departmental IT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which of his Department's databases are  (a) wholly and  (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases;
	(2)  which databases operated by his Department are located  (a) wholly and  (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located.

Beverley Hughes: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Education and Skills. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
	However, to be helpful, some information is a matter of record.
	
		
			  Database  External operator  Owner  Wholly  Partly 
			 HARTLINK (Database of Teachers' Pensions Records) Capita Teachers Pensions DfES School Resources Group X — 
			 Achievement and Attainment Tables (GCSE and A level) EduServ DfES Data Services Group (DSG) — (1 )X 
			 Statistical First Releases on GCSE and A level figures EduServ DSG — (1 )X 
			 Pupil Absence EduServ DSG — (1 )X 
			 Secure Data Transfer EduServ DSG X — 
			 On Line Publications EduServ DfES Communications Directorate X — 
			 Specialist Schools Database EduServ DfES Schools Directorate X — 
			 (1 )EduServ in Bath hosts the published databases although the Department and its contractor hold working versions of the underlying data for operational purposes. Note:None of these databases are located outside the UK.

Departmental IT

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of information technology projects undertaken by or for his Department since 2001 have been delivered  (a) over budget,  (b) after their original deadline,  (c) on budget,  (d) under budget,  (e) on their original deadline and  (f) ahead of their original deadline.

Beverley Hughes: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Education and Skills. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
	However, to be helpful, some historical information is available. Analysis of the Department's Individual Learning Account (ILA) Programme is given in the report: "The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2003), Individual Learning Accounts, Tenth Report of Session 2002-03 (Ref: HC 544), TSO, London"
	An analysis of the Department's UK e-University Project is given in the report: The "House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee (2005), UK e-University, Third Report of Session 2004-05 (Ref: HC 205), TSO, London".
	In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children Young People and Families on 13 June 2005,  Official Report, column 192W, and 3 November 2005,  Official Report, column 1314W.

Departmental IT

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which web-related information technology projects cost his Department more than £50,000 since 2001; which companies submitted qualified tender proposals for each project; and which company was awarded each contract;
	(2)  how many information technology projects his Department has undertaken in each year since 2001;
	(3)  how much his Department has spent on  (a) information technology projects and  (b) web-facing information technology projects in each year since 2001, broken down by (i) expenditure on consultants and (ii) other costs.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Education and Skills. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
	However, to be helpful, some information is a matter of record. Analysis of the Department's Individual Learning Account (ILA) Programme is given in the report. The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2003), Individual Learning Accounts, Tenth Report of Session 2002-03 (Ref: HC 544), TSO, London.
	An analysis of the Department's UK e-University Project is given in the report: The House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee (2005), UK e-University, Third Report of Session 2004-05 (Ref: HC 205), TSO, London
	In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children Young People and Families on 13 June 2005,  Official Report, column 192W; and 3 November 2005,  Official Report, column 1314W.

Dyslexia

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils at the West Somerset county college receive help for dyslexia; and at what cost.

Parmjit Dhanda: No information is collected centrally which would enable the Government to make an estimate of the number of children with dyslexia at West Somerset county college. However, since 2004, the Department for Education and Skills have collected data on pupils by type of SEN as part of the annual school census. Dyslexia is included within specific learning difficulties (SpLD) - which also covers dyscalculia and dyspraxia. We have data on pupils with SEN at School Action Plus and with a statement of SEN where SpLD is recorded as their primary need. The number of pupils with specific learning difficulties at West Somerset county college in 2006 is in the table below. We do not have data on pupils whose needs are met at 'School Action'.
	
		
			  West Somerset community college: Number of pupils with specific learning difficulties as their primary type of need( 1—) January 2006 
			   Number 
			 School Action Plus (2—) 
			 Statement of SEN 4 
			 (1) Excludes dually registered pupils  (2 )Less than 3   Source:  Schools Census 
		
	
	In 2006-07, Somerset local authority reported via their 2006-07 Section 52 budget statement that they had budgeted £37.2 million for the provision of education for children with special educational needs. Of this £37.2 million, the funding delegated to West Somerset County College identified as "notional SEN" was £271,775. Figures recorded against "notional SEN" are only indicative of the amount that might by spent by the school on pupils with SEN and do not include any money retained centrally and spent on behalf of its schools by Somerset local authority.
	Funding specifically for pupils with dyslexia is not collected and therefore cannot be distinguished from the overall budgeted expenditure on SEN.

Energy Efficiency

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of light bulbs purchased by his Department in 2005 were of the compact fluorescent type.

Parmjit Dhanda: 90 per cent. of the Departments headquarters buildings light bulb purchases last year were of the compact fluorescent type.

Higher and Further Education

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school leavers in Copeland entered  (a) higher education and  (b) further education in the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: The latest available information is given in the following table. Figures have been produced for both Cumbria local education authority (LEA) and Copeland parliamentary constituency (PC) because further education (FE) figures are not available at a constituency level.
	
		
			  Numbers from Cumbria LEA and Copeland PC of 16 and 17-year-old students at FE colleges and sixth form Colleges and 18-year-old entrants to undergraduate higher education (HE) courses at UK HE institutions 
			  Academic year 2004/05 
			   Copeland parliamentary constituency  Cumbria LEA 
			 16 and 17-year-old students at FE colleges(1) n/a 2,900 
			 16 and 17-year-old students at sixth form colleges(1) n/a 700 
			 18-year-old entrants to undergraduate HE courses at UK HE institutions(2) 175 1,365 
			 (1) FE figures are the latest participation figures for the year end 2004 and are rounded to the nearest 100.(2) HE figures are based on the HESA Standard Registration Population and rounded to the nearest five. Source:FE—Individualised Learner Record; HE—Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record 
		
	
	Figures will not include students who defer entry to higher education and who enter HE in when they are 19 years old.

Science Degrees

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury of 12 October 2006,  Official Report, column 428, on science degrees, how many science-related degrees were taken in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by subject.

Bill Rammell: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

SEN

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will require all local education authorities to monitor admissions of children with special educational needs to schools in their area, including academies and trust schools, in order to publish an annual report.

Parmjit Dhanda: Local education authorities are already required by virtue of The Special Educational Needs (Provision of Information by Local Education Authorities) (England) Regulations 2001 to publish their general arrangements for monitoring the admission of children with special educational needs (whether or not those children have a statement) to maintained schools in their area.
	In addition, subject to the passage of the Education and Inspections Bill, admission forums will be required in regulations to monitor admissions to ensure they are fair for all sectors of the local community, including children with SEN and disabilities. Forums will have the power to produce an annual report on admissions in their area and to provide their reports every two years to the schools commissioner, who will produce a national review every two years for Parliament on fair access, based upon the reports from the admissions forums.SEN Training

SEN

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if he will take steps to ensure that special educational needs training is made a core and compulsory part of initial teacher training for all teachers;
	(2)  if he will restart negotiations with the Training and Development Agency on the role of special educational needs training in initial teacher training, induction and continued professional development;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to implement the triangle of training needs outlined in his Department's special educational needs strategy'
	(4)  if he will take steps to provide increased and guaranteed funding to special educational needs regional partnerships for their role in planning provision for low-incidence special educational needs;
	(5)  if he will take steps to increase post-16 provision for young people with  (a) special educational needs and  (b) disabilities;
	(6)  if he will impose a statutory responsibility on local authorities to consult and work with  (a) local and  (b) national autism bodies to make progress towards the objective of achieving early diagnosis of children with autism;
	(7)  if he will require local authorities to maintain a proportion of special educational needs funding to resource specialist services to meet low-incidence needs;
	(8)  if he will establish  (a) a specific national framework with minimum standards,  (b) a broad range of suitable provision and  (c) a work force equipped and resourced to identify and meet the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN) before increasing the delegation of funding for SEN;
	(9)  if he will change the funding agreements with academies to put them on the same legal footing as other schools with regard to children with special educational needs;
	(10)  if he will ensure that the new code of practice on school admissions gives children with  (a) special educational needs and  (b) disabilities explicit priority in over-subscription criteria;
	(11)  if he will ensure that the protocol for hard to place children makes specific reference to children with  (a) special educational needs and  (b) disabilities;
	(12)  if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the provisions of the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 in Scotland in providing for children with special educational needs;
	(13)  if he will take steps to make statements of special educational needs (SEN) transferable between local education authorities (LEAs) in circumstances where a pupil with SEN moves from a school in one LEA to a school in another;
	(14)  if he will issue clearer guidance to local authorities on in what circumstances to issue statements of special educational needs;
	(15)  what steps he is taking to improve the  (a) special educational needs and  (b) disability component of initial teacher training, induction and continuing professional development of school staff;
	(16)  what steps he plans to take to increase  (a) training and  (b) resources available to help staff to deal effectively with children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms;
	(17)  how he proposes to increase the role of children and young people in reviewing, planning and designing services to meet special educational needs;
	(18)  if he will take steps to remind all staff in schools of their duties in respect of disability equality;
	(19)  when he expects to issue guidance to schools on the implementation of the disability equality duty;
	(20)  if he will introduce a statutory national framework with minimum standards on the provision of services to meet special educational needs;
	(21)  what steps he is taking to improve  (a) training,  (b) resources and  (c) provision to assist children with special educational needs who (i) have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and (ii) are on the autistic spectrum;
	(22)  what steps he is taking to improve the training of staff working with autistic children who experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties;
	(23)  what steps he is taking to pursue the inclusion development programme referred to on pages 27 and 31 of Removing Barriers to Achievement;
	(24)  what definition he uses of inclusion in special educational needs policy;
	(25)  what his policy is on whether there should be more or fewer special schools;
	(26)  whether it is his policy that the proportion of children educated in special schools should fall over time.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the Government's response to the Education and Skills Committee report on special educational needs, published on 11 October 2006 (Cm 6940).

Teenage Pregnancy Unit

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  who the Head of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit is; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; what his or her career has been to date; where the post was advertised; how many persons applied for the post; how many were short-listed for interview; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  who the members of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit are; what relevant specialist qualifications each holds; what the career of each has been to date; when each was appointed and by whom; where each vacancy was advertised; how many persons applied for each post; how many were short-listed for interview; where the Teenage Pregnancy Unit is located; how much was spent by it on  (a) office accommodation,  (b) staff costs,  (c) travel and subsistence and  (d) staff bonuses in each year since the unit's inception; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Head of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit is Marcus Bell, who transferred to the post in June 2004. Mr. Bell is a career civil servant who joined the Department in 1989.
	The Teenage Pregnancy Unit is an integral part of the Department for Education and Skills. In addition to the Head of the TPU, it currently has seven members, whose responsibilities are as follows:
	
		
			  Job title  Responsibilities 
			 Programme manager Delivery and implementation of the teenage pregnancy strategy 
			 National policy manager Policy briefings and parliamentary questions 
			 Teenage parents support manager Supported housing and childcare for teenage parents 
			 Local implementation manager Local implementation of the teenage pregnancy strategy 
			 Information and analysis manager Analysis and data 
			 Administrative support officer Administrative support 
			 Administrative support officer Administrative support 
		
	
	All members of the TPU must maintain their competence at the appropriate standard for their official duties.
	The costs for the Unit are as follows:
	 (a) Office accommodation: It is not possible to identify separately the accommodation costs of individual units or teams within the overall Department. This information is therefore not available.
	 (b) Staff costs and,  (c) travel and subsistence: The following table shows TPU staff salary costs and travel and subsistence costs from December 2003 when the Unit moved into the Department for Education and Skills from the Department of Health.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Financial year  Staff costs (i.e. salaries)  Travel and subsistence 
			 2003-04(1) 105,000 8,500 
			 2004-05 406,400 22,000 
			 2005-06 367,300 14,400 
			 2006-07(2) 177,000 9,200 
			 (1) 2003-04 costs relate to period from 1 December 2003 only, i.e. point at which TPU moved from the Department of Health to DfES  (2) 2006-07 costs are for period up to 30 September 2006 only   Note:  Figures rounded to nearest £. 
		
	
	 (d) Staff bonuses: These costs are included within the salary cost figures shown in the table.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether Burma was raised in discussions with the Indian Prime Minister during his recent visit to the UK;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has held with the Chinese Government on the situation in Burma.

Tony Blair: I have had no recent discussions on Burma with the Chinese or Indian Governments. However, the Government continue to raise the subject of Burma at the United Nations and in all international forums.
	Most recently, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade (Mr. McCartney) discussed Burma with the Indian Deputy Foreign Minister and the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister. I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade (Mr. McCartney) to the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on 19 July 2006,  Official Report, column 488W, and to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 22 June 2006,  Official Report, column 2145W.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) on 16 October 2006,  Official Report, column 975W, and to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Davies) on 9 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2W.

Departmental Offices

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the  (a) total floor space and  (b) estimated rateable value is of his offices.

John Prescott: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband) on 19 July 2006,  Official Report, column 527W, and the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster today.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what the arrangements are for the payment of pensions to people who retire early through ill-health in each pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; what the incidence of ill-health retirement was as a percentage of all retirement in such schemes in each year since 1988-89; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the current rate of ill-health retirement is for each public sector pension scheme for which her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The Cabinet Office participated in the inter-departmental review of ill-health retirement in the public sector, the report of which was published by Her Majesty's Treasury in May 2000. The civil service's approach to the recommendations of this report was set out in an action plan which included the setting of ill-health retirement targets for participating Departments. These targets required Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) employers to reduce ill-health retirement rates, by 2005, to no more than 3.72 per 1,000 staff; a higher rate of 4.84 per 1,000 staff was set for the Prison Services. Active management by employers resulted in the target being met and, for the year to Friday 31 March 2006, the overall ill-health retirement rate for employers generally was 1.76 per 1,000 staff and the rate for the Prison Services was 3.40 per 1,000 staff.
	The PCSPS provides ill-health pensions to members who are assessed by the scheme's independent medical adviser as being permanently incapable, by reason of ill-health, from carrying out their job. Qualifying members receive their accrued pension benefits paid immediately on an unreduced basis. Additionally, depending on the section of the scheme the member belongs to, the individual's length of service and the severity of their incapacity, reckonable service may be enhanced. The introduction of new pension terms for new entrants from October 2000 provided an opportunity to differentiate between those whose breakdown in health renders them incapable of any gainful employment and those who are incapable of carrying out their own job.
	Most civil servants joining the civil service on or after 1 October 2002 can, as an alternative to joining the PCSPS, opt for a partnership pension account which is a stakeholder arrangement with an employer contribution. The conditions for ill-health retirement are as for members of the PCSPS but the member receives a lump sum of 20 per cent. of pay per year of service rather than an ongoing annual pension.
	Information about the number of members who retire early on the grounds of ill health as a percentage of all retirements for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for the period from October 2002 onwards is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Period  Ill health retirements as a percentage of total retirements 
			 October 2002-March 2003 12.6 
			 2003-04 10.7 
			 2004-05 10.0 
			 2005-06 7.2 
		
	
	Comparable data for periods before October 2002 is only available at disproportionate cost. Information on ill health retirement in the civil service, alone (excluding non-civil service bodies which participate in the PCSPS) for the period to 2001-02 is available for each year in the annual publication Civil Service Statistics which is available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/publications/index.asp
	Copies are also available in the Library for the reference of Members.

Public Bodies

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers work for the (i) Social Exclusion Task Force and (ii) Better Regulation Executive.

Hilary Armstrong: The two special advisers appointed by me provide advice and assistance on the full range of Cabinet Office business, including work relating to the Social Exclusion Task Force and the Better Regulation Executive. No special advisers work directly for either unit.
	No specific press officer works for either unit but the Cabinet Office press office spend some of their time working on these two portfolios.

Afghanistan

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of the findings of the UNODC's Afghan Opium survey 2006 for the counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan.

Ian McCartney: This year's increase in cultivation detailed in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime survey is very disappointing. The increase is due to a substantial increase in planting in Helmand and other Southern Provinces. 70 per cent. of the 61,000 hectare increase is in Helmand Province and 92 per cent. in the Southern Provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan, Dai Kundi and Zabul. This is worrying, but reflects the very difficult security situation and limited law enforcement capability in these provinces. Elsewhere, where access to governance, security and development has improved, reductions achieved last year have been sustained and in some cases fallen. This year has also seen the adoption of vital counter narcotics legislation, the conviction of over 280 traffickers, an increase in drugs related seizures and the completion this autumn of a high security prison for serious drug offenders. This is encouraging and shows that the Afghans National Drug Control Strategy is starting to have an impact. We must continue to help the Afghans sharpen delivery on the ground in order to bring about a sustainable reduction in cultivation and trafficking across the country as a whole.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ian McCartney: The first and second rounds of voting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) both passed off peacefully with the Congolese population turning out in high numbers to vote in a dignified manner. It is now important that all political and military actors respect the wishes of the population. We welcome the signing of an agreement by the two remaining presidential candidates to respect the results. We look forward to working closely with the new government to develop a stable and prosperous DRC.
	My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, made a press statement on30 October on behalf of the Government following the second round of voting. The full text is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1161591409270%20&year=2006&month=2006-10-01&date=2006-10-30

Entry Clearance (United States)

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations her Department has made to United States authorities on behalf of UK citizens in possession of a valid US visa who have been detained or denied entry by the US Immigration Service;
	(2)  how many staff in her Department are employed in dealing with complaints by UK citizens in possession of a valid US visa who have been detained or denied entry by the US Immigration Service;
	(3)  what meetings  (a) Ministers in her Department and  (b) diplomatic and consular staff have had with US authorities to discuss UK citizens in possession of a valid US visa who have been detained or denied entry by the US Immigration Service;
	(4)  when  (a) Ministers in her Department and  (b) diplomatic and consular staff plan to meet the US authorities to discuss UK citizens in possession of a valid US visa who have been detained or denied entry by the US Immigration Service.

Kim Howells: Although it is not appropriate for the UK to interfere in the immigration policies of foreign Governments, British officials meet their American counterparts regularly to raise issues and concerns as they arise including, when necessary, individual cases of British Nationals who have experienced difficulties at US ports of entry. Consular officials are planning to meet members of the United States embassy's consular operation later this month to discuss visa requirements. Most recently, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, accompanied by the Director of Consular Services, met the US Ambassador on 23 October 2006 to discuss Consular issues.
	In London two officers deal full-time with consular matters arising in North America. They are supported by a wide range of more senior officials in London and the United States as the need arises.

EU Migration Strategy

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the implementation of the EU migration strategy "The Global Approach to Migration: priority actions focussing on Africa and the Mediterranean"; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
	The "ED Global Approach to migration" strategy was agreed under the UK presidency of the EU.
	As one part of the operational response to this strategy, Frontex (the EU Borders Agency) has contributed to operations to reduce illegal immigration to the EU. This has clear benefits to reducing flows to the UK via the Mediterranean and from the west coast of Africa. Frontex has facilitated the sharing of analysis and immigration intelligence on illegal immigration routes into the EU so helping the UK and others to work on dismantling the criminal networks behind those routes.
	The "Global Approach" strategy also encourages dialogue between the EU and Africa on migration and development with a view to joint working and improved co-operation, including building capacity to prevent illegal immigration. The July Euro-Africa regional ministerial conference on migration and development in Rabat brought EU and west African states together for the first time on a common agenda for action. The upcoming EU-pan Africa ministerial meeting will provide a further opportunity to form a joint approach, with states, this time throughout Africa.
	Many of the actions in the "Global Approach" will be implemented over the longer term. In particular, development aid and assistance that helps to eradicate the root causes of illegal immigration will continue to form part of individual member states and the EC's collective response to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for the foreseeable future.
	The European Council in December will receive a report from the European Commission noting progress so far on the "Global Approach" strategy as well as indicating areas in which the Commission considers future action will be needed. On the basis of this report, the European Council will determine the EU's next steps.

IT Projects

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  for all projects valued at over one million pounds and not web-related, who won the contract and how many qualified tender proposals there were;
	(2)  which non-web-related information technology projects cost her Department more than £500,000 since 2001; how many qualified tender proposals there were for each project; and which company was awarded each contract.

Ian McCartney: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) undertakes a very wide range of IT enabled projects. Strategic projects are managed centrally, but many others are delivered under a devolved system of financial responsibility under which Directorates and overseas Posts have the freedom, subject to conformity with FCO technical standards and the need to demonstrate effective use of public funds, to invest in non-strategic IT systems designed to meet specific needs. The cost, time scales and complexity of these projects vary enormously. Compiling a comprehensive answer to the hon. Member's questions would require exhaustive searches of records in the UK and overseas, and could only be done at disproportionate cost.
	However, a list of recent strategic information and communications technology contracts valued at over£l million is provided in the following table. Of these, the two marked with an asterisk are web-related. The list includes, where available from the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, the information requested about the number of qualified tenders (which is not held centrally and cannot otherwise be obtained except at disproportionate cost):
	
		
			  FCO's ICT contracts over £l million as at May 2006 
			  Title of contract  Number of qualified tenders  Supplier  Period of contract  Total value of contract when let (£ million) 
			 Compass 8 WorldReach (Canada) June 2001 to June 2006 1,500,000 
			 GenIE/ GenIE Worldwide (Replaced by Biometrics contract—see below) — 3M/AIT April 1999 to March 2009 3,000,000 
			 Biometric Passports 1 3M UK pic April 2005 to April 2009 6,500,000 
			 Focus — Fujitsu Consulting January 2002 to March 2003 10,500,000 
			 Focus (Knowledge Management) — Fujitsu Consulting March 2003 to December 2005 1,087,000 
			 FCONet2 (FCO's Intranet) — Fujitsu Services November 2004 to October 2005 2,077,000 
			 WIOL Project Management — Fujitsu April 2003 to February 2005 1,090,000 
			 WIOL/WIPA Technical refresh. — Fujitsu March 2006 to March 2007 1,773,262 
			 Cash Registers (world-wide maintenance and support) — Wincor Nixdorf Ltd September 2003 to September 2008 1,500,000 
			 Consultancy Services — AKC June 2003 to May 2005 5,000,000 
			 Firecrest Global Support — Hewlett Packard May 2001 to April 2005 5,000,000 
			 Future Firecrest 7 Hewlett Packard February 2005 to February 20l2 189,500,000 
			 ICT—provision of technical installers for overseas installations — Serco Defence January 2003 to December 2005 1,238,000 
			 FCO global telecommunications network (PFI) — Global Crossing May 2000 to April 2010 180,000,000 
			 Implementation of ICT Strategy and Pre-procurement of Future Firecrest (Stage 2c and 3) — KPMG from May 2002 3,329,000 
			 Implementation of ICT Strategy and Pre-procurement FF (Stage 3) — AKC from Aug 2004 1,700,000 
			 E-Archive services (Minerva) — British Telecom November 1996 to March 2007 1,500,000 
			 * Internet Project — LogicaCMG from March 2002 6,500,000 
			 * FCO Website—support and maintenance — LogicaCMG March 2005 to March 2008 1,401,000 
			 Prism integrated accounting, HP and procurement system 5 CGEY January 2002 to January 2010 53,800,000 
			 Enterprise Agreement — Microsoft June 2006 to June 2009 5,100,000 
		
	
	Only two web-related contracts over £1 million are listed. These are the Internet Project and the FCO Website support and maintenance contracts awarded to LogicaCMG. Details of web-related projects initiated under devolved arrangements are not available centrally; the five most expensive non-web contracts are, in descending order of value: Future Firecrest, FCO Global Telecommunications Network (FTN), Prism, Focus and Biometric Passports.

Adverse Drug Reactions

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the  (a) number of adverse drug reactions occurring in the Province in each of the last five years and  (b) costs resulting from such reactions in each year.

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of people who suffered adverse reactions to pharmaceuticals is not available. Information is available on those who were admitted to hospital and had a diagnosis of an adverse reaction to drugs(1).
	Table 1 details the number of admissions(2) to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of adverse reactions to drugs(1), for each year between 2001-02 and 2005-06 (the latest financial year for which data are available). It should be noted that any individual could have been admitted to hospital more than once over the course of a year or over a number of years and would therefore be counted more than once in the table.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Admissions( 1) due to adverse reactions to drugs( 2) 
			 2001-02 1,766 
			 2002-03 1,520 
			 2003-04 1,605 
			 2004-05 1,654 
			 2005-06 1,651 
			 (1) Discharges and deaths are used as an approximation to admissions.(2) Drugs refers to drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use. Source: Hospital Inpatients System. 
		
	
	Table two details the cost of episodes arising in a hospital day case or inpatient environment, which were specifically identified as including adverse reactions to medication.
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   Cost (£ million) 
			 2002-03 2.2 
			 2003-04 2.5 
			 2004-05 2.9 
		
	
	These figures may not reflect the complete cost for all treatments resulting from adverse reactions to medications as they may not have been specifically identified within the hospital coding system. The above costs do not include related treatments in primary, community and outpatient settings.
	Cost information for other years is not available.

Asbestos-related Illnesses

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of people in the Province who suffer from asbestos-related illnesses.

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of people diagnosed with asbestos-related illness in Northern Ireland is not available. However data on the number of hospital in-patients in Northern Ireland, with a diagnosis of asbestos-related illness are available.
	For this analysis asbestos-related illnesses have been defined, using the tenth revisions of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), as Mesothelioma, Pneumoconiosis due to asbestos and other mineral fibres, and Pleural Plaque including pleural thickening with the presence of asbestos.
	During 2005-06 (the latest year for which data is available), the total number of admissions(1) to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of these asbestos-related illnesses was 465. Of these 191 related to mesothelioma admissions.
	Figures for admissions for asbestos-related lung cancer cannot be obtained as this cancer is clinically indistinguishable from the more commonly occurring lung cancers unrelated to occupational exposure. However statisticians in the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain estimate roughly equal numbers of asbestos-related lung cancers as there are mesothelioma cases.
	(1) Discharges and deaths are used as an approximation to admissions. It should be noted that any individual could have been admitted to hospital more than once over the course of the year and would therefore be counted more than once in the figures.

Attacks on NHS Staff

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of  (a) verbal and  (b) physical violence against NHS staff occurred in each health trust in the Province in each of the last three years.

Paul Goggins: Details of  (a) verbal and  (b) physical violent incidents against Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) staff since April 2004 are set out in the following Tables A and B.
	Details prior to April 2004 are not recorded centrally.
	
		
			  Table A: Total number of verbal incidents 
			  Trust  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 1) 
			 Altnagelvin 121 121 28 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 34 21 28 
			 Belfast City 149 71 50 
			 Causeway 15 54 44 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 104 150 62 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital 63 30 52 
			 Down Lisburn 157 149 67 
			 Foyle 151 210 67 
			 Greenpark 41 7 2 
			 Homefirst 60 77 79 
			 Mater 45 81 62 
			 Newry and Mourne 65 108 73 
			 North and West Belfast 42 94 29 
			 NI Ambulance Service 17 31 35 
			 Royal 97 159 65 
			 South and East Belfast 126 126 38 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 84 75 169 
			 Ulster 106 76 34 
			 United 144 144 31 
			 (1 )Figures are incomplete and only available for the six-monthly period 1 April 2006 - 30 September 2006. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Total number of physical incidents 
			  Trust  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 1) 
			 Altnagelvin 60 64 23 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 174 198 118 
			 Belfast City 132 95 41 
			 Causeway 60 110 92 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 87 91 30 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital 79 66 33 
			 Down Lisburn 517 455 301 
			 Foyle 177 322 104 
			 Greenpark 42 14 5 
			 Homefirst 471 433 270 
			 Mater 135 157 111 
			 Newry and Mourne 44 46 21 
			 North and West Belfast 746 662 287 
			 NI Ambulance Service 74 38 45 
			 Royal 114 119 63 
			 South and East Belfast 250 257 165 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 242 110 451 
			 Ulster 275 240 82 
			 United 144 112 59 
			 (1) Figures are incomplete and only available for the six-monthly period 1 April 2006 - 30 September 2006.

Audiology

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the average waiting time is in Northern Ireland for a digital hearing aid;
	(2)  what the average waiting time was in Northern Ireland for a first hearing aid in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Information on the average waiting time for a digital hearing aid and the average waiting time for a first hearing aid is not collected centrally. However, information is collected on the number of people waiting for a hearing assessment/re-assessment at the end of each quarter, according to specified time bands. Waiting time is counted from the date a referral is received by the audiology department until the end of the quarter.
	All new patients assessed as requiring a hearing aid are fitted with a digital hearing aid. Analogue aids are normally issued only as replacements to current users of analogue aids for whom a digital hearing aid is unsuitable. Preliminary information on the number of persons waiting for hearing assessment/re-assessmentis shown in the table, in respect of the position at31 March 2006, the date for which information has been first collected.
	
		
			  Months  Persons waiting for hearing assessment/re-assessment at 31 March 2006( 1) 
			 < 3 528 
			 3 to 6 391 
			 6 to 12 1,089 
			 > 12 112 
			 Total 2,120 
			 (1) Information refers to both children and adults waiting assessment. 
		
	
	At 31 March 2006, audiology departments reported that no persons aged under 18 were waiting for hearing assessment/re-assessment at 31 March 2006.

Bamford Review

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the recommendations from the Equal Lives report of the Bamford Review; and what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations of the report.

Paul Goggins: Departmental officials have considered the recommendations in 'Equal Lives' and many are outside the responsibility of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The report calls for cross-departmental working, to support people with a learning disability. For this reason an Inter-Departmental Task Force is being established, to be chaired by the Northern Ireland Director for Mental Health and Learning Disability. A service framework will be developed to take forward the recommendations contained in 'Equal Lives'.

Benefit Fraud

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been prosecuted in Northern Ireland for  (a) benefits fraud and  (b) illegal dumping in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: The number of people who have been prosecuted in each of the last five years for benefits fraud and illegal dumping in Northern Ireland is as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Benefits fraud 
			   Number of people prosecuted 
			 2002 471 
			 2003 335 
			 2004 243 
			 2005 236 
			 2006 246 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Illegal dumping 
			   Number of people prosecuted 
			 2002 n/a 
			 2003 4 
			 2004 24 
			 2005 59 
			 2006 86

Benefit Fraud

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been recouped in fines for benefit fraud in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years; and what the total cost was of bringing prosecutions for that offence.

David Hanson: The Social Security Agency is committed to a robust approach to tackling fraud and deploys a series of sanctions against offenders including formal cautions, administrative penalties and prosecution.
	The Agency refers the most serious cases of fraud to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI), which has overall responsibility for deciding whether a potential case meets both the evidential and the public interest tests, to consider prosecution.
	In respect of cases prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service, the fines imposed in each of the last two years were as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004 13,509 
			 2005 19,040 
		
	
	The PPSNI holds no information on whether the fines imposed were paid or information on whether benefits fraudulently claimed were otherwise recouped. PPSNI does not hold information on the costs of prosecuting particular types of case. While some unit costs may be identifiable, the overall cost to the service of any case it prosecutes, as a percentage of the overall cost of its total workload, is not.
	Where a criminal case is successfully prosecuted in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Court Service records the amount of fines imposed and paid. I have been advised that, while information is held on the amount of fines imposed and paid each year, information is not held on the reasons for fines such as benefit fraud. However, this information will be available in the future due to the implementation of a new court IT system, 'ICOS'.
	Neither the Agency nor the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland keep information relating to the costs of individual prosecutions for particular types of cases. Information is therefore not available to answer the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question.

Bowel Cancer

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been diagnosed with bowel cancer in each of the last 10 years; how many people died as a result of bowel cancer in each year; and if he will introduce a bowel cancer screening programme in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The following table details the incidence and deaths due to bowel cancer (ICD-10 C18-C21) in Northern Ireland for the most recent 10-year period for which data is available. The incidence data has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and the mortality data has been provided by Demography and Methodology Branch, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
	
		
			   Incidence  Mortality 
			 1995 983 454 
			 1996 968 427 
			 1997 910 413 
			 1998 931 443 
			 1999 907 410 
			 2000 880 413 
			 2001 950 401 
			 2002 923 383 
			 2003 995 464 
			 2004 955 430 
			 2005(1) n/a 435 
			 (1 )The 2005 mortality data is provisional until the publication of the Registrar General's Annual Report at the end of November 2006. Incidence data is currently not available for 2005.  Note: The data includes the small number of cancers of the anus per annum. 
		
	
	The UK National Screening Committee (NSC)has considered the case for bowel screening and recommended that a population programme should be introduced. I would wish to see such a programme introduced in Northern Ireland. Before a programme could be implemented in Northern Ireland, significant planning, infrastructure development and capacity building is required to ensure that the necessary resources, people and skills are in place to ensure a quality service. My Department is working with the health service to enhance the capacity of the symptomatic service, with the aim to introduce screening in 2009.

Cannabis

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken in the Province to increase awareness of the risks of cannabis use.

Paul Goggins: Education about the harmful effects of cannabis is included in mainstream education. A range of information is provided by teachers, youth workers, voluntary organisations and the police.
	We have commissioned the Health Promotion Agency to carry out research into the misuse of alcohol and cannabis by young people in Northern Ireland. This study will investigate the context in which alcohol and cannabis is taken by young people, as well as their attitudes, understanding and perceptions of risk.
	Further research will seek to identify the best way to communicate with young people about the harm that drugs do.
	We intend to launch an awareness campaign early next spring. This will be supported by a similar campaign for parents on how to talk to young people about cannabis and other substance misuse issues.

Cataract Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in each health trust area in the Province are waiting for cataract surgery; how many people in each area received such surgery in each of the last five years; what the average waiting time for surgery was in each area in the last period for which figures are available; and what the longest timeis for which a patient has been waiting for cataract surgery in each area.

Paul Goggins: The total number of patients waiting for cataract surgery for each applicable health trust at 30 June 2006 (the latest available validated statistics) is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Patients waiting for cataract surgery at 30 June 2006 
			  HSS trust  Number 
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals 361 
			 Craigavon Area 153 
			 Down Lisburn 198 
			 Mater 549 
			 Royal Group 659 
			 Total 1,920 
			  Source: Departmental Information Return PFA 211. 
		
	
	The number(1) of people who received cataract surgery in each of the last five years for which data is available is detailed in the following table, broken down by the health trust providing the treatment.
	
		
			  Number( 1 ) of people who received cataract surgery each year 
			  Trust  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02 
			 Altnagelvin 1,278 1,248 1,187 1,115 1,110 
			 Craigavon Area 602 432 453 479 306 
			 Down Lisburn 512 472 589 178 126 
			 Mater 1,595 1,363 1,460 1,318 1,235 
			 Royal Group 3,842 3,872 3,835 3,765 3,748 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 197 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 8,026 7,387 7,524 6,855 6,525 
			 (1) The number of people who received cataract surgery has been approximated using postcode and date of birth as at present no unique identifier exists that can match individuals across hospitals.  Source: Hospital In-patient System. 
		
	
	Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for cataract surgery. It is however possible to identify the median or mid-point and longest waiting time band in each applicable health trust area in the Province.
	
		
			  Patients waiting for cataract surgery at 30 June 2006 
			   Waiting time band 
			  HSS trust  Median (Months)  Longest (Months) 
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals 0-2 3-5 
			 Craigavon Area 0-2 3-5 
			 Down Lisburn 0-2 3-5 
			 Mater 0-2 6-8 
			 Royal Group 0-2 6-8 
			 Total 0-2 6-8 
			  Source: Departmental Information Return PFA 211.

Cycling

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how the Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy has progressed across the Province; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated7 November 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding how the Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy has been progressed across the Province; and if he will make a statement. I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	You will be aware that the Northern Ireland Cycling Strategy was published in 2000 and contains a number of actions aimed at improving conditions for cycling and establishing a pro cycling culture. These actions were assigned to bodies within the public, private and voluntary sectors.
	Progress against the Strategy is monitored by the NI Cycling Forum on which DRD is an active participant. The Forum, containing representatives from individuals and organisations with an interest in cycling, published a report on progress against the various actions in the NI Cycling Strategy in 2002. I understand that a second report is at an advanced stage of preparation and the Forum hopes to publish this shortly.
	From a Roads Service perspective, we have been actively monitoring progress against the headline targets in the strategy (doubling cycle trips by 2005, quadrupling trips by 2015) in our annual Cycle Usage Survey. The increases noted in cycle usage figures between 2000 and 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 For all sites surveyed(1) +25.8 
			 For all sites surveyed on the National Cycle Network(2) +31.4 
			 For 10 sites in the Greater Belfast area +56.6 
			 (1 )31 locations throughout Northern Ireland. (2 )13 of the above 31 locations which are located throughout Northern Ireland 
		
	
	The Department's Regional Transportation Strategy(2002-12) recognised cycling as a mode of transport and the development of cycling measures within its 3 supporting transport plans (the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan, the Regional Strategic Network Transport Plan and the draft Sub-Regional Transport Plan) also aims to promote the objectives of the NI Cycling Strategy. As these plans are implemented, we will of course monitor their outcomes.

Departmental Redundancies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many redundancies there were in his Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of such redundancies was in each year; how many temporary staff were employed in each year; and how many staff were seconded by outside organisations to posts within the Department in each year.

Paul Goggins: The number of redundancies within the Northern Ireland Office Core Department for the period 1997 to date is nil.
	The total number of redundancies from the Northern Ireland Prison Service for the period 1997 to date are identified in the table. All redundancies relate to prison grade staff only.
	
		
			   Number of Prison Service redundancies 
			 1997 83 
			 1998 3 
			 1999 210 
			 2000 847 
			 2001 31 
			 2002 0 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 0 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 0 
		
	
	The total cost of redundancies from the Northern Ireland Prison Service for the period 1997 to date are identified in the table. All costs relate to prison grade staff only. Although from 2001 there have been no redundancies, there have been ongoing costs for annual compensation payments made to staff until they reach minimum retirement age.
	
		
			  Financial Year  Redundancy costs (£ million) 
			 1997-98 (1)— 
			 1998-99 3.6 
			 1999-2000 6.3 
			 2000-01 109.9 
			 2001-02 4.0 
			 2002-03 3.3 
			 2004-05 2.4 
			 2005-06 1.4 
			 2006-07 0.1 
			 (1) No available records. 
		
	
	The number of staff employed on a temporary basis for the same period including casual staff and staff employed under the new deal scheme, and the number of staff seconded by outside organisations to within the Department is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Temporary staff employed  Number of secondments into NIO 
			 1997 22 — 
			 1998 35 8 
			 1999 22 8 
			 2000 17 6 
			 2001 28 5 
			 2002 37 15 
			 2003 18 4 
			 2004 30 4 
			 2005 54 4 
			 2006 40 2

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is set out in the following table and comprises bonuses paid under the Special Bonus Scheme, and the performance management arrangements for all Northern Ireland Office staff at senior civil service (SCS) level and below.
	
		
			   Reporting year 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Number of staff received bonus 728 809 1,670 1,731 1,024 
			 Proportion of total workforce (percentage) 46.6 46.2 91.9 90.7 49.2 
			 Total amount of bonuses (£) 172,456 231,005 475,080 629,742 686,425 
			 Largest single payment (£) 9,600 10,400 10,080 12,000 11,000 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Office established a non consolidated bonus pot to reward performance in the 2003-04 reporting year for staff below SCS. In 2003-04 and 2004-05 it rewarded three levels of performance. In 2005-06 the scheme was amended and is now targeted at exceptional performance.
	These bonuses are non-consolidated and non-pensionable and therefore do not have associated future costs for pay bill.

Drink-Driving

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people charged with drink driving incidents have not been brought before court in Northern Ireland within  (a) three months and  (b) six months over the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: It has not been possible to answer this question before the end of the current parliamentary session.

ENT Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many patients are waiting for  (a) ear, nose and throat in-patient admission and  (b) out-patient assessment in each health trust area in the Province;
	(2)  what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting time is in each health trust area in the Province for (i) initial ear, nose and throat out-patient assessment and (ii) ear, nose and throat in-patient admission.

Paul Goggins: The (i) total number of patients waiting for  (a) ear, nose and throat in-patient admission and  (b) ear, nose and throat out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment) for each applicable Health Trust at 30 June 2006 (the latest available validated statistics) is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Patients waiting for ear, nose and throat in-patient admission/ out-patient assessment at 30 June 2006 
			   Total waiting 
			  HSS Trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Royal Group 774 4,340 
			 Belfast City 821 1,452 
			 Ulster Hospitals 205 2,253 
			 Down Lisburn 18 1,017 
			 Mater 59 670 
			 United Hospitals 714 5,609 
			 Craigavon Area 897 1,833 
			 Newry and Mourne 159 619 
			 Armagh and Dungannon n/a 406 
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals 388 1,927 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 379 1,647 
			 Total 4,414 21,773 
			 n/a - not applicable Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 & CH3 
		
	
	Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for ear, nose and throat in-patient admission or for initial ear, nose and throat out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment). It is however possible to identify the median or mid point and longest waiting time band for both in-patient admission and first out-patient appointment in each applicable Health Trust area in the Province.
	
		
			  Patients waiting for ear, nose and throat in-patient admission/first out-patient assessment 30 June 2006 
			  Months 
			   Median waiting time band  Longest waiting time band 
			  HSS Trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Royal Group 0-2 9-11 6-8 24+ 
			 Belfast City 0-2 3-5 9-11 21-23 
			 Ulster Hospitals 0-2 3-5 6-8 24+ 
			 Down Lisburn 0-2 3-5 3-5 18-20 
			 Mater 3-5 3-5 6-8 12-14 
			 United Hospitals 3-5 9-11 9-11 24+ 
			 Craigavon Area 3-5 3-5 9-11 24+ 
			 Newry and Mourne 0-2 0-2 9-11 9-11 
			 Armagh and Dungannon n/a 6-8 n/a 21-23 
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals 0-2 3-5 9-11 18-20 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 0-2 0-2 6-8 24+ 
			 Total 0-2 3-5 9-11 24+ 
			 n/a - not applicable Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 and CH3

ENT Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients in each health trust area in the Province  (a) had an initial ear, nose and throat out-patient assessment and  (b) were admitted to hospital for ear, nose and throat surgery in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The table provides information on the number of first out-patient attendances in the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialty in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Trust  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02 
			 Mater Informorum 1,552 2,028 1,574 1,532 1,617 
			 Belfast City 2,750 3,240 3,285 2,944 2,973 
			 Royal Group 2,913 3,116 3,359 4,287 4,900 
			 UC and HT 4,109 4,102 4,478 4,046 4,478 
			 Down Lisburn 2,562 2,261 2,129 2,248 2,572 
			 United 5,338 5,619 5,653 5,439 5,429 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 419 391 396 474 456 
			 Craigavon Group 4,402 3,781 4,236 4,301 4,063 
			 Newry and Mourne 1,844 1,667 1,862 1,195 1,433 
			 Altnagelvin 2,711 2,721 2,546 2,684 2,295 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 3,186 2,771 2,952 3,542 3,454 
			 Northern Ireland 31,786 31,697 32,470 32,692 33,670 
			  Source: Departmental Information Return KH09

Erne Hospital

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time for  (a) an initial outpatient assessment and  (b) inpatient admission was in each specialty at the Erne Hospital in the last period for which figures are available; and what the longest time is for which a patient has been waiting in each case.

Paul Goggins: Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for initial out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment) or for in-patient admission. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point and longest waiting time band for both first out-patient appointment and in-patient admission in each specialty at the Erne Hospital.
	
		
			  Patients waiting for each specialty at the Erne Hospital at 30 June 2006 (the latest validated statistics available) 
			  Month 
			   Median waiting time band  Longest waiting time band 
			  Specialty  (a) Out-patient appointment  (b) In-patient admission  (a) Out-patient appointment  (b) In-patient admission 
			 Anaesthetics 3-5 n/a 24 + n/a 
			 Cardiology 0-2 n/a 3-5 n/a 
			 ENT 3-5 n/a 9-11 n/a 
			 General Medicine 0-2 0-2 3-5 3-5 
			 General Surgery 0-2 0-2 6-8 9-11 
			 Geriatric Medicine 0-2 n/a 9-11 n/a 
			 Gynaecology 0-2 0-2 12- 14 9-11 
			 Neurology 3-5 n/a 6-8 n/a 
			 Obstetrics 0-2 n/a 0-2 n/a 
			 Paediatrics 0-2 n/a 3-5 n/a 
			 Pain Management n/a 0-2 n/a 3-5 
			 Total 0-2 0-2 24+ 9-11 
			 n/a = Not applicable  Source:  Departmental Information returns CH1 & CH3

Fireworks

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been arrested for illegal possession of fireworks in each month of 2006, broken down by district command unit.

Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable is unable to provide the information in the form requested. However, the table shows the number of incidents of inappropriate sale, use or possession of fireworks which have been reported to police, for each month since April 2006 and broken down by District Command Unit.
	
		
			  Number of incidents of inappropriate sale/use/possession of fireworks recorded by District Command Unit, 2006 
			  DCU  April  May  June  July  August  September  October 
			 Antrim 0 0 0 1 1 4 66 
			 Ards 0 0 0 0 0 12 60 
			 East Belfast 0 0 0 0 0 15 50 
			 North Belfast 2 0 0 1 0 15 69 
			 South Belfast 0 0 1 2 1 3 61 
			 West Belfast 0 0 0 0 1 10 14 
			 Carrickfergus 0 0 0 1 1 0 43 
			 Castlereagh 0 0 0 1 2 10 69 
			 Larne 2 0 0 0 0 0 60 
			 Lisburn 0 2 1 0 0 23 118 
			 Newtownabbey 1 0 1 0 5 14 56 
			 North Down 1 0 1 1 1 19 94 
			 Urban 6 2 4 7 12 125 760 
			 Armagh 0 0 0 0 0 4 71 
			 Ballymena 0 0 1 0 1 20 54 
			 Ballymoney 0 0 0 0 0 1 38 
			 Banbridge 0 0 0 0 1 2 55 
			 Coleraine 0 0 0 3 1 24 60 
			 Cookstown 0 0 0 0 0 5 82 
			 Craigavon 0 0 0 0 0 3 88 
			 Down 0 0 0 1 0 6 101 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 2 0 0 1 1 18 102 
			 Fermanagh 0 0 1 0 1 18 170 
			 Foyle 0 0 0 0 1 15 58 
			 Limavady 0 0 0 0 1 12 42 
			 Magherafelt 0 0 0 1 0 2 38 
			 Moyle 0 0 0 0 0 2 26 
			 Newry and Mourne 0 1 1 0 1 10 115 
			 Omagh 0 1 0 0 0 9 100 
			 Strabane 1 0 0 0 1 4 42 
			 Rural 3 2 3 6 9 155 1,242 
			 Grand total 9 4 7 13 21 280 2,002 
			  Note:Please note that these figures are provisional and may be subject to change. Source: Central Statistics Unit, PSNI

Fisheries

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how the Northern Ireland Fisheries Conservancy Board financed the purchase of each of its vessels; what the purpose of each vessel has been; and what finances were provided by outside funding bodies;
	(2)  how many boats are owned by the Northern Ireland Fisheries Conservancy Board; when they were purchased; and what the total cost was of each vessel.

Maria Eagle: The Fisheries Conservancy Board have 18 vessels at their disposal. The requested details are as follows:
	
		
			  11 metre RIB  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on Lough Erne Fishery. 
			 Financed by INTERREG project?Combined Fishery Enhancement and Management Programme 024789. 
			 Total cost £135,435 
			 Purchase date December 2005. 
			   
			  6.1 metre RIB  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on Upper Lough Erne, Lough Melvin or coast as required. 
			 Financed by INTERREG project?Combined Fishery Enhancement and Management Programme 024789. 
			 Total cost £39,362 
			 Purchase date November 2004. 
			   
			  11 metre RIB  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation of the North Coast salmon fishery and long-range coastal work if required. 
			 Financed by Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. 
			 Total cost £130,907 
			 Purchase date December 2003 
			   
			  Two 4-metre Honda inflatables  
			 Purpose Protection and conservation duties within jurisdiction of the Board, if required for rapid deployment and difficult access to waterway encountered. 
			 Financed by: INTERREG project?Combined Fishery Enhancement and Management Programme 024789. 
			 Total cost £3,120 
			 Purchase date November 2004 
			   
			  Orkney 590TT + trailer.  
			 Purpose Electrofishing/survey work. 
			 Financed by INTERREG project?Combined Fishery Enhancement and Management Programme 024789. 
			 Total cost £15,950 
			 Purchase date November 2004 
			  Cygnus Tornado.  
			 Purpose Protection, Conservation and Sampling duties on Lough Neagh. 
			 Financed by Insurance claim as previous patrol vessel stolen. 
			 Total cost £95,175 (£72,000 from insurance claim, rest Board finance.) 
			 Purchase date 2000 
			   
			  Bayliner Trophy 5.2 metre.  
			 Purpose Protection and conservation duties in Lough Neagh and inflowing river systems. 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £13,000 
			 Purchase date 1996 
			   
			  Dell Quay Dory 4.5 metre.  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on east coast area. 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £16,000 
			 Purchase date 1996 
			   
			  Skeeter 550C.  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation of Loughs Erne and Melvin. 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £13,000 
			 Purchase date 1996 
			   
			  Humber Inflatable 13 D  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on Lower Bann and Lough 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £2,000 
			 Purchase date 1996 
			   
			  Dell Quay Dory 15 foot  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on Lough Neagh or other inland lakes (access permitting for launch). 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £3,525 
			 Purchase date 2002 
			   
			  Pioneer 12 foot PVC  
			 Purpose Protection and conservation duties at river mouths leading to Lough Neagh or other inland lakes as required. 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £2,000 
			 Purchase date 1995. 
			   
			  Ernecraft G.R.P 17-foot general-purpose anglers boat  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties on inland lakes and rivers in Fermanagh area. 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £1,410 
			 Purchase date 1998 
			   
			  Tornado RIB and trailer.  
			 Purpose watercourses as required. Tender back up for 11 metre north coast RIB and other 
			 Financed by Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 
			 Total cost £12,102 
			 Purchase date December 2003 
			   
			  Dromidair 16 foot  
			 Purpose Protection and Conservation duties in Fermanagh area 
			 Financed by FCB 
			 Total cost £1,200 
			 Purchase date 1994 
			   
			  Two 19 foot Sheelin G.R.P boats  
			 Purpose These boats are notionally owned by the Board but maintained insured and operated by Clogher and District Angling Association. 
			 Financed by INTERREG project?Combined Fishery Enhancement and Management Programme 024789 
			 Total cost £4,555 
			 Purchase date November 2004

Hospital Hygiene

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to encourage hand washing in hospitals in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, as part of its "Changing the Culture" action plan published in March 2006, has provided health and social services boards in this financial year with £400,000 for the hand hygiene and mandatory staff training elements of the plan. With this funding acute hospital trusts are being encouraged, especially during the winter, to mount hand hygiene initiatives across all work areas and to engage staff, patients and the public in these initiatives. Special campaigns led by infection control teams are under consideration this winter in all acute hospital trusts.

IT Contracts/Projects

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the value was of each IT contract awarded by his Department in each of the last five years; and who the contractor was in each case.

Paul Goggins: The following tables cover the NIO core Department, agencies and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry (BSI). The information relates only to contracts with a value of over £1 million up to the end of the financial year 2005-06.
	
		
			  Project  Purpose  Contractor  Value of contract  (£ million) 
			 COMPASS (to 2002) To provide an e-human resources system for the Northern Ireland Prison Service BT 5.06 
			 PRISM (to spring 2006) To provide a prisoner record system for the Northern Ireland Prison Service Sopra Newell and Budge 7.26 
			 CAUSEWAY (PPP project to 2013) A joint enterprise by criminal justice organisations in Northern Ireland to share information electronically Fujitsu 45 
			 FLAX (to 2005) Replace NIO IT infrastructure, provide internet and intranet and meet electronic document and records management targets BT 8.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Bloody Sunday Inquiry—Londonderry and London 
			   Purpose—implementation of IT systems to support the work of the inquiry 
			   Contractor  Value of contract (£ million) 
			 1998 Fujitsu 1.1 
			 2002 Fujitsu 7.1 
			 2003 Fujitsu 5.0 
			 2004 Fujitsu 2.6 
			 2005 Fujitsu 3.7

Language Support

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what language support services were available to each college of further and higher education in each education and library board area in Northern Ireland in the last four academic years; and how much was allocated by each college to such services in each year.

Maria Eagle: Following incorporation in 1998, education and library boards relinquished their responsibility for further education colleges.
	For the purposes of addressing this question, the term "language support services" has been defined as "translation and interpretation" costs.
	Details of language support services available in each college of further and higher education over the last four academic years is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Cost of language support services (translation and interpretation) in academic year 
			  £ 
			  College name  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Armagh College 0 0 0 0 
			 Belfast Institute 0 0 0 7,000 
			 Castlereagh College 0 0 0 0 
			 Causeway Institute 0 0 0 0 
			 East Antrim Institute 0 0 3,045 2,430 
			 East Down Institute 0 0 0 0 
			 East Tyrone 0 0 0 0 
			 Fermanagh College 0 0 0 0 
			 Limavady College 0 0 0 0 
			 Lisburn Institute 0 0 0 300 
			 Newry and Kilkeel Institute 0 0 320 400 
			 North Down and Ards Institute 0 0 0 0 
			 North East Institute 0 0 0 0 
			 North West Institute 0 0 0 0 
			 Omagh College 0 0 0 18,000 
			 Upper Bann 0 0 0 400

Mature Students

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of students at each university in Northern Ireland were mature students in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Proportion of known age full-time and part-time enrolments at the Northern Ireland higher education institutions aged 25 years and over by institution 1997/98 to 2004/05 
			  Percentage 
			  Academic year  Queen's university Belfast  University of Ulster  Stranmillis university college  St. Mary's university college  Total 
			 1997-98 36.0 38.1 17.9 11.9 36.3 
			 1998-99 36.4 35.7 33.6 17.4 35.7 
			 1999-2000 37.5 35.0 34.5 27.3 36.0 
			 2000-01 35.7 34.5 31.3 25.5 34.8 
			 2001-02 35.0 34.5 27.5 19.5 34.2 
			 2002-03 33.7 34.1 25.7 18.8 33.3 
			 2003-04 36.3 34.3 25.5 12.9 34.4 
			 2004-05 37.5 34.0 25.2 12.2 34.8 
			  Source:Higher Education Statistics Agency

Mental Health

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to set up in-reach teams to tackle mental health difficulties in schools in Northern Ireland.

Maria Eagle: There are no plans to set up in reach teams to tackle mental health difficulties in schools in Northern Ireland, However, my hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for Health, Social Services and Public Safety announced on 31 October that a start was being made to modernising mental health and learning disability services in the province in response to the findings of the Bamford review. The Bamford report on child and adolescent mental health services highlights the need for joined-up planning and commissioning of services between mental health and education. The needs of the education sector will be included in the cross departmental task force being set up to oversee the implementation of Government response.
	Arising from the Children and Young Persons Package announced by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in March last, a considerable counselling programme is being planned for all post primary pupils from January 2007. A referral process will be set up within the counselling scheme should a need be identified for specialist services.

Mesothelioma

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made ofthe benefits of pemetrexed for the treatment of mesothelioma.

Paul Goggins: Pemetrexed is currently undergoing assessment by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for use in the NHS. My Department recently established formal links with NICE. As part of the local process for reviewing NICE guidance for implementation in the HPSS a direction on its use will be issued shortly after the final guidance becomes available in England. The institute's final appraisal document, issued in June 2006, recommended that pemetrexed should not be used for the treatment of this disease except within a clinical trial. While this recommendation is subject to an appeal, the Department would not expect pemetrexed to be widely available for patients with mesothelioma in Northern Ireland.

Mesothelioma

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what licensed medicines are available to treat mesothelioma patients.

Paul Goggins: Gemcitabine in combination with cisplatin is the standard treatment available in Northern Ireland for mesothelioma patients. Pemetrexed is licensed for the treatment of mesothelioma but is not yet available in Northern Ireland.

MRI Scans

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in each health trust in the Province are waiting for an MRI scan; and how many people received an MRI scan in each health trust in the Province in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Weekly monitoring of radiology waiting lists and times including MRI scans is not yet in place. In order to answer this question unvalidated information on the number of people waiting for an MRI scan and the number who have received a scan was collected from each health trust in the Province and is detailed in the table.
	
		
			  Trust  Number waiting for MRI scan 
			 Altnagelvin 933 
			 Belfast City Hospital 1,065 
			 Craigavon 600 
			 Greenpark 1,277 
			 Royal 2,351 
			 Ulster 544 
			 United 148 
			  Source: HPSS Trusts. 
		
	
	The number of people who received an MRI scan in each health trust in the Province in each of the last five years is detailed in the table.
	
		
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Altnagelvin(1) n/a n/a 2,871 3,259 4,193 
			 Belfast City Hospital 588 1,070 3,387 6,015 5,238 
			 Craigavon(2) — — — 3,428 3,876 
			 GreenPark 6,421 6,764 6,152 6,223 6,831 
			 Royal 4,757 3,065 3,756 4,526 6,091 
			 Ulster(3) — — — 2,004 2,488 
			 United(4) — — — 1,582 2,397 
			 n/a = Figure not available. (1) Figures for Altnagelvin include scans carried out at the independent sector scanner in Coleraine. Figures not available for 2001-02 or 2002-03. (2) MRI scanner at Craigavon has been in existence only since1 November 2004. Figures run from November to October each year. (3) MRI scanner at the Ulster was installed in May 2004. (4) MRI scanner at United in operation from 2004-05.  Source: HPSS Trusts.

Nursing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will break down by age the number of nurses working in the health service in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Nursing staff employed within the NIHPSS by age group as at 30 September 2006 
			   Qualified nursing staff  Nurse support staff 
			   Headcount  WTE  Headcount  WTE 
			 <25 704 690.55 390 364.89 
			 25-29 1,709 1,621.05 462 412.47 
			 30-34 2,163 1,906.33 548 458.69 
			 35-39 2,361 1,941.00 654 533.92 
			 40-44 3,161 2,566.19 768 652.74 
			 45-49 2,743 2,286.63 747 642.87 
			 50-54 1,818 1,543.66 556 480.68 
			 55-59 925 763.09 392 328.49 
			 60-64 281 215.41 175 141.57 
			 65+ 18 12.32 8 6.08 
			 Unknown 0 0.00 1 1.00 
			 Total 15,883 13,546.23 4,701 4,023.40 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for nursing staff exclude bank staff and student nurses.2. WTE—whole-time equivalent.  Source: Human Resource Management Systems

Nursing

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what childcare assistance is available for those studying nursing in the Province; and what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a childcare allowance for nursing students in the Province.

Paul Goggins: Student nurses studying in Northern Ireland at both diploma and degree level have access to a personal bursary award, which is a combination ofa non-means tested bursary and a means tested dependants allowance. A child care allowance is not included in the current support package, however the situation will be kept under review.

Occupational Therapy

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the  (a) longest and  (b) average waiting time is for community occupational therapy assessment among (i) adults and (ii) children in each health trust in the Province.

Paul Goggins: Information on average and longest waiting times for community occupational therapist assessment in respect of children and adults is not collected centrally. Information is, however, available on the time individuals aged 19 and over had waited for commencement of assessment by community occupational therapists, according to specified time bands. The number of adults in each time band is shown in the following table, in respect of assessments commenced in the quarter ending 30 June 2006, the latest date for which such information is available. Information is provided for priority cases and non-priority cases separately.
	
		
			  Time waited for commencement of assessment by community occupational therapists, quarter ending 30 June 2006 
			  HSS Trust  Under 2 weeks  2 weeks to under 1 month  1 month and over  All priority cases 
			  (a) Priority cases 
			 North and West Belfast 238 72 153 463 
			 South and East Belfast 413 85 137 635 
			 UCHT 208 54 72 334 
			 Down Lisburn 274 93 210 577 
			 Causeway 86 32 96 214 
			 Homefirst 714 132 343 1,189 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 336 34 14 384 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 456 212 118 786 
			 Newry and Mourne 60 72 261 393 
			 Foyle 43 36 132 211 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 54 38 139 231 
			  
			 Northern Ireland 2,882 860 1,675 5,417 
		
	
	
		
			  HSS Trust  Under 3 months  3 months to under 6 months  6 months and over  All non-priority cases 
			  (b) Non-priority cases 
			 North and West Belfast 137 168 83 388 
			 South and East Belfast 647 30 14 691 
			 UCHT 459 137 121 717 
			 Down Lisburn 91 24 175 290 
			 Causeway 33 3 63 99 
			 Homefirst 993 19 174 1,186 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 129 47 13 189 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 0 0 0 0 
			 Newry and Mourne 38 108 10 156 
			 Foyle 99 6 107 212 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 29 1 19 49 
			  
			 Northern Ireland 2,655 543 779 3,977 
			  Source: Departmental Information return CP4.

Organ Transplants

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have received kidney transplants in each of the last five years; how many people are receiving renal dialysis; and how many renal dialysis patients are regarded as requiring transplants.

Paul Goggins: The number of people who received kidney transplants in each of the last five years is detailed in the table.
	
		
			   Number of people who received kidney transplants 
			 2001 37 
			 2002 49 
			 2003 45 
			 2004 58 
			 2005 30 
			  Source: Transplant Co-ordinator, Belfast City Hospital 
		
	
	At 30 September 2006 the number of people receiving renal dialysis in Northern Ireland was 762. This is the latest information available.
	At 31 October 2006 there were 269 patients who require kidney transplants. This is the latest information available.

Paediatric Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many patients are waiting for  (a) paediatric surgery in-patient admission and  (b) initial paediatric surgery out-patient assessment in each health trust area in the Province;
	(2)  what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting time is for (i) initial paediatric surgery out-patient assessment and (ii) paediatric surgery in-patient admission in each health trust area in the Province;
	(3)  how many patients  (a) had an initial paediatric surgery out-patient assessment and  (b) were admitted to hospital for paediatric surgery out-patient assessment in each of the last five years in each health trust area in the Province.

Paul Goggins: The (i) total number of children waiting for  (a) paediatric surgery in-patient admission and  (b) initial paediatric surgery outpatient assessment (first out-patient appointment) for each applicable health trust at 30 June 2006 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Children waiting for paediatric surgery at 30 June 2006 
			   Total waiting for paediatric surgery 
			  HSS trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Royal Group 433 961 
			 Ulster Hospitals 125 241 
			 Total 558 1,202 
			  Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 and CH3 
		
	
	Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for plastic surgery in-patient admission or for initial plastic surgery out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment). It is however possible to identify the median or mid point and longest waiting time band for both in-patient admission and first out-patient appointment in each applicable health trust area in the Province.
	
		
			  Children waiting for paediatric surgery at 30 June 2006 
			  Months 
			   HSS trust 
			   Ulster  Royal Group 
			  Median waiting time band   
			  (a) In-patient admission 0-2 3-5 
			  (b) Out-patient appointment 0-2 3-5 
			
			  Longest waiting time band   
			  (a) In-patient admission 6-8 9-11 
			  (b) Out-patient appointment 12-14 24+ 
			  Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 and CH3 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of children that had an initial paediatric surgery out-patient attendance in each applicable HSS Trust in each of the last five years from 2000-01 to 2005-06.
	
		
			  Number of paediatric surgery initial out-patient attendances 2000-01 to 2005-06 
			   HSS trust 
			   Ulster  Royal Group  Total 
			 2005-06 618 1,396 2,014 
			 2004-05 967 1,607 2,574 
			 2003-04 1,084 1,285 2,369 
			 2002-03 941 1,574 2,515 
			 2001-02 916 1,489 2,405 
			  Source: Departmental Information return KH09 
		
	
	Information on the number of children that were admitted to hospital for paediatric surgery out-patient assessment in each of the last five years is not available.

Paediatric Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting time is in each health trust area in the Province for (i) initial paediatric cardiology outpatient assessment and (ii) paediatric cardiology inpatient admission.

Paul Goggins: Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for paediatric cardiology inpatient admission or for paediatric cardiology out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment). It is however possible to identify the median or mid point and longest waiting time band for both in-patient admission and first outpatient appointment in each applicable health trust area in the Province.
	
		
			  Children waiting for paediatric cardiology inpatient admission/out-patient assessment at 31 October 2006 
			  Months 
			   Median waiting time band  Longest waiting time band 
			  HSS trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals(1) 0-2 9-11 6-8 12-14 
			 United Hospitals — 6-8 — 15-17 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group(2) — 6-8 — 15-17 
			 Altnagelvin Group(3) — 3-5 — 6-8 
			 Causeway — 0-2 — 0-2 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals — 6-8 — 24+ 
			 (1) Only the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust has a paediatric cardiology inpatient service. (2 )Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust provided numbers waiting at 30 September 2006. (3) Altnagelvin Group Trust provided numbers waiting at 28 October 2006.  Source:  Health and Social Service Trusts.

Paediatric Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients in each health trust area in the Province are waiting for  (a) paediatric cardiology inpatient admission and  (b) initial paediatric cardiology outpatient assessment.

Paul Goggins: The total number of children waiting for  (a) paediatric cardiology in-patient admission and  (b) initial paediatric cardiology out-patient assessment (first outpatient appointment) for each applicable health trust at 31 October 2006 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Children waiting for initial paediatric cardiology assessment at 31 October 2006 
			   Total waiting for paediatric cardiology 
			  HSS trust  (a) In-patient Admission  (b) Out-patient Appointment 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals(1) 44 314 
			 United Hospitals — 82 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group(2) — 79 
			 Altnagelvin Group(3) — 42 
			 Causeway — 8 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals — 76 
			 Total 44 601 
			 (1) Only the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust has a paediatric cardiology inpatient service. (2) Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust provided numbers waiting at 30 September 2006. (3) Altnagelvin Group Trust provided numbers waiting at 28 October 2006.  Source: Health and Social Service Trusts.

Paediatric Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients in each health trust area in the Province  (a) had an initial paediatric cardiology outpatient assessment and  (b) were admitted to hospital for paediatric cardiology in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The following table shows the total number of children that had an initial paediatric cardiology outpatient assessment in each of the last five years from 2000-01 to 2005-06 for each applicable health trust.
	
		
			  Number of children having an initial paediatric cardiology assessment 2001-02 to 2005-06 
			  HSS trust  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals(1) 504 517 588 613 — 
			 United Hospitals 43 73 80 74 84 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group(2) — — — — 109 
			 Altnagelvin Group 51 71 75 53 81 
			 Causeway(1)  28 22 16 25 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals 67 65 73 71 56 
			 (1 )Figures not yet available for 2005-06 for Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust and Causeway Hospitals HSS Trust could not provide figures for 2001-02. (2 )Craigavon Group Trust provided numbers waiting for 2005-06 only, as prior to March 2005 they included all paediatric cardiology in the paediatrics specialty.  Source: Health and Social Service Trusts. 
		
	
	The number of children admitted to hospital for paediatric cardiology is not available.

Physiotherapists

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapy students graduated in Northern Ireland in the last academic year; how many of those graduates have been employed as NHS physiotherapists; and what the average cost is of training a physiotherapy student in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: 72 physiotherapy students graduated from the University of Ulster at the end of the last academic year.
	The number of those graduates that have taken up employment within the NHS is not available. However, the number of new appointees joining the HPSS at a junior physiotherapy grade for the period March 2005 to March 2006 is 69. These joiners may include: new graduates, staff transferring from the private sector, staff from other countries or staff returning after a period of unpaid leave.
	The average cost of training a physiotherapy student is currently £35,000.

Physiotherapists

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time is for an appointment with a physiotherapist in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: Information on the average waiting time for an appointment with a physiotherapist is not collected centrally. However, information is collected on completed waiting times for a first out-patient appointment of an episode of care with a community physiotherapist. The total number of persons attending their first out-patient appointment, and their waiting times are shown in the table, in respect of the quarter ending 31 March 2006, the latest date for which such information is available. 18,241 persons attended their first out-patient appointment with a community physiotherapist. Of these, 921 (5 per cent.) had waited for six months or more.
	
		
			Time waiting 
			  Board area  Patients attending first appointment  Less than 3 months  3 to 6 months  6 months or over 
			 Eastern 6,477 5,070 1,012 395 
			 Northern 3,425 2,605 664 156 
			 Southern 4,689 3,964 415 310 
			 Western 3,650 2,997 593 60 
			 Total 18,241 14,636 2,684 921 
			  Source: Departmental Information return CP3.

Planning

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many outstanding planning applications there are in each municipal area in Northern Ireland; and how long on average it takes to deal with such an application.

David Cairns: The number of outstanding planning applications and average processing times per Council area are detailed in Tables A and B as follows.
	Table A shows the number of outstanding planning applications by Council area at 30 September 2006.
	
		
			  Table A 
			  District council area  Outstanding 
			  Ballymena  
			 Antrim 423 
			 Ballymena 672 
			 Carrickfergus 171 
			 Larne 189 
			 Magherafelt 828 
			 Divisional Total 2,283 
			   
			  Belfast  
			 Belfast 1,038 
			 Castlereagh 291 
			 Newtownabbey 336 
			 Divisional Total 1,665 
			   
			  Craigavon  
			 Armagh 1,428 
			 Banbridge 1,031 
			 Craigavon 690 
			 Newry and Mourne 2,440 
			 Divisional Total 5,589 
			   
			  Downpatrick  
			 Ards 647 
			 Down 837 
			 Lisburn 869 
			 North Down 458 
			 Divisional Total 2,811 
			   
			  Headquarters  
			 All Districts 352 
			 Divisional Total 352 
			   
			  Londonderry  
			 Ballymoney 330 
			 Coleraine 672 
			 Derry 813 
			 Limavady 303 
			 Moyle 258 
			 Divisional Total 2,376 
			   
			  Omagh  
			 Cookstown 872 
			 Dungannon 1,269 
			 Fermanagh 2,148 
			 Omagh 1,325 
			 Strabane 550 
			 Divisional Total 6,164 
			   
			 Planning Service Total 21,240 
		
	
	Table B shows the average time to process a planning application per council area. (Based on decisions issued between 1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006)
	
		
			  Table B 
			  District council area  Calendar days  Weeks 
			  Ballymena   
			 Antrim 223.36 31.91 
			 Ballymena 237.99 34.00 
			 Carrickfergus 207.49 29.64 
			 Larne 172.90 24.70 
			 Magherafelt 356.68 50.95 
			
			  Belfast   
			 Belfast 155.86 22.27 
			 Castlereagh 172.42 24.63 
			 Newtownabbey 167.87 23.98 
			
			  Craigavon   
			 Armagh 373.48 53.35 
			 Banbridge 390.35 55.76 
			 Craigavon 231.87 33.12 
			 Newry and Mourne 336.01 48.00 
			
			  Downpatrick   
			 Ards 232.81 33.26 
			 Down 334.52 47.79 
			 Lisburn 253.19 36.17 
			 North Down 198.17 28.31 
			
			  Londonderry   
			 Ballymoney 243.34 34.76 
			 Coleraine 282.67 40.38 
			 Derry 213.95 30.56 
			 Limavady 212.03 30.29 
			 Moyle 240.34 34.33 
			
			  Omagh   
			 Cookstown 222.14 31.73 
			 Dungannon 184.56 26.37 
			 Fermanagh 290.35 41.48 
			 Omagh 236.14 33.73 
			 Strabane 191.47 27.35 
			  Note: Headquarters figures included within districts.

Plastic Surgery

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many people are waiting for  (a) plastic surgery in-patient admission and  (b) initial plastic surgery out-patient assessment in each health trust area in the Province;
	(2)  what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting time is for plastic surgery in-patient admission in each health trust area in the Province;
	(3)  what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting time is for initial plastic surgery out-patient assessment in each health trust area in the Province.

Paul Goggins: The (i) total number of people waiting for  (a) plastic surgery in-patient admission and  (b) initial plastic surgery out-patient assessment (first out-patient appointment) for each applicable health trust at 30 June 2006 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Patients waiting for plastic surgery at 30 June 2006 
			   Total waiting for plastic surgery 
			  HSS trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Ulster 573 5,061 
			 Royal Group 433 809 
			 Belfast City 58 5 
			 Total 1,064 5,875 
			  Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 and CH3 
		
	
	Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) and longest time waiting for plastic surgery in-patient admission or for initial plastic surgery outpatient assessment (first out-patient appointment). It is however possible to identify the median or mid point and longest waiting time band for both inpatient admission and first out-patient appointment in each applicable health trust area in the Province.
	
		
			  Patients waiting for plastic surgery at 30 June 2006 
			  Months 
			   Median waiting time band  Longest waiting time band 
			  HSS trust  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment  (a) In-patient admission  (b) Out-patient appointment 
			 Ulster 0-2 24+ 9-11 24+ 
			 Royal Group 0-2 9-11 9-11 24+ 
			 Belfast City 0-2 0-2 9-11 3-5 
			  Source: Departmental Information returns CH1 and CH3

Policing (Ards District)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many paramilitary-related incidents were reported in the Ards borough council area in each year since 1980.

Paul Goggins: Table 1 gives the total number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults and shootings in Newtownards sub-division.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Paramilitary style assault casualties  Paramilitary style shooting casualties 
			 1990 — 1 
			 1991 — — 
			 1992 1 — 
			 1993 3 — 
			 1994 1 1 
			 1995 4 — 
			 1996 6 — 
			 1997 6 2 
			 1998 6 — 
		
	
	Table 2 gives the total number of casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults and shootings in Newtownards DCU.
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   Paramilitary style assault casualties  Paramilitary style shooting casualties 
			 1999 8 — 
			 2000 4 1 
			 2001 12 4 
			 2002 9 8 
			 2003 8 12 
			 2004 7 14 
			 2005 6 16 
			 2006 (to 30 June) 3 — 
		
	
	2006 statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor amendment.

Psychologists

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many whole time equivalent clinical psychologists are employed by each health trust in the Province.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Clinical psychologists employed within the NI HPSS by trust as at 30 September 2006 
			  Trust  Headcount  Whole-time equivalent 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 3 3.00 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 12 11.14 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust 11 9.30 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 22 19.86 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust 12 10.96 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 2 1.62 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust 26 24.08 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 4 4.00 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 11 10.11 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 20 18.71 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 19 18.65 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 4 4.00 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 9 7.41 
			 Total 155 142.84 
			  Source: Human Resource Management Systems

Railways

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Department for Regional Development (DRD) has spent on essential infrastructure work on the Derry-Belfast railway line between  (a) Derry and Ballymena and  (b) Ballymena and Belfast in each of the last three years; and how much DRD plans to spend on that work in each of the next three years.

David Cairns: It is not possible to provide an answer to your question in this parliamentary session.

Regional Fertility Centre

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of treatments used at the Regional Fertility Centre.

Paul Goggins: The Regional Fertility Centre (RFC) offers a range of fertility treatments including specialised treatment which require to be licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). In providing patient care, the RFC is required to comply with HFEA's Code of Practice, which is designed to ensure safe and effective treatment is provided to service users.

Road Traffic Accidents

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information his Department has collected on the age of drivers involved in road traffic accidents in the Province in the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: I have been advised by the Police Service of Northern Ireland that information is gathered in respect of road traffic accidents only where there has been a fatality or where injury has been sustained. The information is as follows.
	
		
			  Age of drivers involved in injury road traffic collisions 1996 to 2005 
			   1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  Total 
			  Fatal collision   
			 Under 17 3 3 4 0 1 5 4 3 5 6 34 
			 17-24 52 73 54 61 53 58 64 46 55 46 562 
			 25-34 55 50 62 58 70 64 45 43 51 46 544 
			 35-44 32 38 40 42 57 43 35 45 38 48 418 
			 45-54 33 16 36 33 26 24 30 21 19 32 270 
			 55-64 12 7 15 15 17 12 19 22 19 21 159 
			 65+ 15 8 16 11 14 5 16 18 19 15 137 
			 Unknown 0 4 5 4 2 2 4 3 1 4 29 
			 Total 202 199 232 224 240 213 217 201 207 218 2,153 
			 
			  Serious collision   
			 Under 17 39 61 39 44 40 56 35 37 26 28 405 
			 17-24 464 429 467 415 467 431 438 364 363 298 4,136 
			 25-34 550 548 494 492 530 518 422 355 336 321 4,566 
			 35-44 332 346 360 350 461 456 412 342 308 299 3,666 
			 45-54 222 185 223 199 278 241 237 208 200 187 2,180 
			 55-64 139 115 123 125 145 161 132 122 129 103 1,294 
			 65+ 114 91 101 103 129 130 99 105 95 96 1,063 
			 Unknown 48 77 59 65 128 111 109 77 66 75 815 
			 Total 1,908 1,852 1,866 1,793 2,178 2,104 1,884 1,610 1,523 1,407 18,125 
			 
			  Slight collision   
			 Under 17 218 175 201 193 170 172 142 140 129 93 1,633 
			 17-24 2,328 2,408 2,454 2,482 2,629 2,243 1,953 1,780 1,654 1,525 21,456 
			 25-34 3,238 3,310 3,348 3,449 3,575 2,917 2,719 2,265 2,056 1,767 28,644 
			 35-44 2,119 2,181 2,349 2,531 2,955 2,595 2,456 2,191 2,058 1,729 23,164 
			 45-54 1,338 1,442 1,481 1,472 1,678 1,547 1,470 1,271 1,303 1,120 14,122 
			 55-64 706 758 793 820 979 825 785 785 729 617 7,797 
			 65+ 555 547 561 562 630 600 564 519 528 437 5,503 
			 Unknown 414 456 566 623 777 835 676 619 492 406 5,864 
			 Total 10,916 11,277 11,753 12,132 13,393 11,734 10,765 9,570 8,949 7,694 108,183 
			 
			  All collisions   
			 Under 17 260 239 244 237 211 233 181 180 160 127 2,072 
			 17-24 2,844 2,910 2,975 2,958 3,149 2,732 2,455 2,190 2,072 1,869 26,154 
			 25-34 3,843 3,908 3,904 3,999 4,175 3,499 3,186 2,663 2,443 2,134 33,754 
			 35-44 2,483 2,565 2,749 2,923 3,473 3,094 2,903 2,578 2,404 2,076 27,248 
			 45-54 1,593 1,643 1,740 1,704 1,982 1,812 1,737 1,500 1,522 1,339 16,572 
			 55-64 857 880 931 960 1,141 998 936 929 877 741 9,250 
			 65+ 684 646 678 676 773 735 679 642 642 548 6,703 
			 Unknown 462 537 630 692 907 948 789 699 559 485 6,708 
			 Total 13,026 13,328 13,851 14,149 15,811 14,051 12,866 11,381 10,679 9,319 128,461 
			  Note:Figures include drivers of all vehicles (this includes non motor vehicles e.g. pedal cycle)

Sewerage

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment was made of the potential model for the operation of the water sewerage service; how and by whom that assessment was conducted; how much it cost; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: A Strategic and Financial Review of the Water Service was undertaken on behalf of the Department for Regional Development. This provided advice on a range of options and a detailed analysis of two structural and financial options for the future delivery of water and sewerage services including a government corporation model under which Water Service would be government-owned, but subject to Companies Act legislation. The work was undertaken by a consortium led by UBS Investment Bank, supported by NERA Economic Consulting, Halcrow, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Deloitte and Touche. The assignment cost £482,000.
	The report was published on the DRD website and can be accessed at http://www.waterreformni.gov.uk/water_service_final_report.pdf. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library.

Special Educational Needs

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding was allocated by his Department for special educational needs services in the South Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) area in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what plans he has for future such funding; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of special educational needs provision in the SEELB catchment area.

Maria Eagle: Column A of the table shows the funding spent on special needs education from the South Eastern Education and Library Board's (SEELB) budget in each of the five years from 2000-01. Column B shows the corresponding funding from the Department to voluntary grammar and grant maintained integrated schools in each of these years.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Financial year  A  B 
			 2000-01 21 0.4 
			 2001-02 23 0.6 
			 2002-03 27 0.7 
			 2003-04 32 1.0 
			 2004-05 31 1.3

Sustainable Schools Policy

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the sustainable schools policy is expected to be published; and what factors have delayed the completion of the policy.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Education plans to issue the policy approach on sustainable schools once the independent Strategic Review of Education being led by Professor Bain has reported. The review is expected to be completed at the end of this month. The review includes in its terms of reference the strategic planning and organisation of the schools' estate and its conclusions and recommendations will inform the policy on sustainability of schools.

Traffic Calming

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the proposed locations are of traffic calming schemes that the Department for Regional Development Roads Service intends to introduce in Strangford constituency in the next 12 months; and when work on each project will commence.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated7 November 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question, regarding the location of traffic calming schemes that Roads Service proposes to introduce in the Strangford constituency in the next 12 months; and when work on each project is due to commence.
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	Roads Service has a programme of traffic calming schemes that it proposes to carry out during the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08 subject to the completion of the necessary legislative and consultative processes.
	The attached table at Annex 1 details those schemes proposed to be carried out in the Strangford constituency.
	
		
			  Annex 1: List of traffic calming schemes proposed for the Strangford constituency 
			   Proposed traffic calming measures  Estimated start date 
			 1. Saintfield Gateway feature?enhanced signage and road humps 2006-07 (on site) 
			 2. Portaferry Gateway feature and enhanced signage 2006-07) (on site) 
			 3. Scrabo Estate Newtownards Additional roads humps 2006-07 
			 4. U Movilla Street/Old Movilla Road Newtownards Road humps 2006-07 
			 5. Ballyregan Road Gateway feature and road humps 2006-07 
			 6. Killinchy Gateway feature and road humps 2007-08 
			 7. Kircubbin Gateway feature and enhanced signage 2007-08 
			 8. Old Ballygowan Road, Comber Gateway feature and enhanced signage 2007-08

Two-year-olds

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress on the Planned Development Programme for two-year-olds in Northern Ireland.

Maria Eagle: It has been proposed to base the two-year-old programme on the Birth to Three matters framework, which is DfES recognised and is currently in use within Sure Start in GB. The final details concerning the content of the programme are in the process of being agreed. It is the intention to train the required number of staff with the aim of implementing the programme by April 2007.

Attention Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS was of treating children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Information in the form requested is not collected centrally. However, information is available on the basic cost of the main drugs to treat attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) where the prescription was dispensed in the community in England. This information is shown in the following table.
	Our advice, backed by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance, is that that care of a child with ADHD should be undertaken by a child and adolescent psychiatrist or a paediatrician with relevant expertise (continued prescribing and monitoring may be performed by a general practitioner). However, drug therapy should only be part of a comprehensive treatment programme that will include interventions based around providing support to parents and teachers.
	
		
			  Net ingredient cost for drugs to treat ADHD for the period September 2005 to August 2006 
			  Drugs  £ 
			 Atomoxetine 4,168,000 
			 Dexamfetamine 88,000 
			 Methylphenidate 14,538,000 
			  Note:  Data are for children aged 0-15 years and those aged 16-18 in full-time education.  Source: Prescription cost analysis data.

Adverse Drug Reactions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of adverse drug reactions she estimates is reported; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and commission for human medicines (CHM) through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. Approximately 20,000 reports of ADRs are reported to the MHRA/CHM through this scheme each year. It is not possible to estimate from the Yellow Card Scheme the number of people who suffer adverse reactions to drugs since the scheme is associated with an unknown level of under-reporting.
	While under-reporting of ADRs is a known feature of spontaneous reporting schemes, it is thought to occur less frequently with newly identified, serious and unlabelled reactions (those reactions which are not yet included in the product information). It has been estimated from various sources that 10 per cent. of serious ADRs and between 2 and 4 per cent. of non-serious ADRs are reported and that serious reactions are five times more likely to be reported than non-serious reactions. Under-reporting does not necessarily detract from the ability of drug safety monitoring systems to identify new and important drug safety hazards.
	The MHRA and CHM are continually working to increase the quality and quantity of reports received via the Yellow Card Scheme in order to increase the potential for rapid identification of new drug safety hazards.

Alzheimer's Disease

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of providing drugs for Alzheimer's disease in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: The net ingredient cost (NIC) of dispensing donepezil (aricept), galantamine (reminyl), memantine (ebixa) and rivastigmine (exelon) in both primary and secondary care in the years 2001 to 2005, is in the following table.
	
		
			   Primary care—NIC  Secondary care—NIC 
			  £ million 
			 2001 11,005,303 4,812,617 
			 2002 20,567,350 7,654,926 
			 2003 31,347,494 10,576,342 
			 2004 42,765,435 11,857,801 
			 2005 49,256,811 11,976,529 
		
	
	Primary care data are taken from prescription cost analysis (PCA) and secondary care data are taken from the hospital pharmacy audit index (HPAI). Primary care expenditure will include some prescriptions written by doctors in hospital clinics but dispensed in the community.

Ambulance Response Times

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average response time was for ambulances in  (a) England and  (b) Surrey in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 2 November 2006
	The Department collects ambulance response time data in relation to response time requirements rather than by average response time. Therefore, the information requested is not centrally collected in the required format.
	The data that the Department does collect on ambulance response times has been published on an annual basis in the statistical bulletin, Ambulance services, England. These documents are available in the Library and on the Department of Health's and Information Centre for health and social care's websites. The most recent data is available "in Statistical bulletin—Ambulance Services, England 2005-06" and is available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/ambulanceserv06

Aphasia

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with Aphasia in the East Midlands in the last five years; and what proportion of those diagnosed were below the ageof 18.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Audiology

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average waiting time is for a  (a) hearing test and  (b) fitting for a digital hearing aid;
	(2)  how much was spent on delivering digital hearing aids to patients in 2005-06; and what the expected cost is in each of the next five years;
	(3)  how many people are now on a waiting list for a digital hearing aid, broken down by primary care trust.

Ivan Lewis: Waiting time data for fitting and treatment in audiology services is not collected centrally. Waiting time data has been collected since January 2006 for pure tone audiometry diagnostic tests. This data for August 2006, broken down by primary care trust, was published on 18 October and has been placed in the Library.
	Information about how much was spent on delivering digital hearing aids to patients in 2005-06, and about the anticipated cost of doing so for each of the next five years, is not held centrally.

Bedford Hospital

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the financial situation of Bedford hospital NHS Trust following her visit on 3 October 2006; and if she will allow the trust extra time to reduce its deficit.

Andy Burnham: The 2006-07 forecast outturn position at quarter one shows that Bedford Hospital National Health Service Trust is £4 million in surplus.
	The trust has a turnaround team and is currently working on a four-year financial recovery plan with its primary care trusts and the NHS East of England strategic health authority (SHA). Departmental officials have been advised that the trust is now close to achieving a monthly run-rate balance for this year.
	The aim is for the NHS as a whole to achieve financial balance by the end of 2006-07 and for all overspending organisations to have reached monthly balance of income and expenditure within the same period. The new SHAs have been given the responsibility to develop and implement a service and financial strategy for managing the overall financial position within their health economy.

Breast Cancer

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the time taken to produce genetic testing results for breast cancer  (a) in England and  (b) in Northumberland since 2004; and whether the plan to clear the backlog of results from 2004 by February 2007 includes cases tested in 2005 and 2006.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect data centrally on waiting times for genetic tests for inherited forms of breast cancer.
	However, the Government recognise that some patients have experienced long waits for genetic tests in the past and this will have caused stress and anxiety. This is unacceptable.
	To improve access and cut waiting times, the genetics White Paper Our Inheritance, Our Future—realising the potential of genetics in the national health service, published in June 2003, committed up to £18 million for NHS genetics laboratories in England. This major investment is boosting capacity and supporting modernisation in genetics laboratories, thus helping them meet the rising demand for genetic tests.
	To ensure that this investment resulted in real patient benefit, the White Paper set out new standards for genetic test turn around times, to be achieved by the end of 2006. These are:
	Within three days where the result is needed urgently, for example, for prenatal diagnosis;
	within two weeks where the potential genetic mutation is already known, for example, because another family member has already been tested; and within eight weeks for unknown mutations in a large gene.
	This money was allocated during the last two financial years (2004-06), and laboratories are working hard to get their new facilities up to speed to meet these standards.
	We are monitoring molecular genetics laboratories' progress through the commissioners of genetic services. The laboratories in two of the eight Specialised Commissioning Group areas are already meeting these standards for new referrals of genetic tests for breast cancer. Five of the rest are on track to achieve them by the end of 2006 and the remaining one by early 2007.
	Genetic services have drawn up plans locally to deal with backlogs, which for a number of reasons vary in size and nature between centres. Their rate of progress has also depended on the timescale for getting new equipment and processes operational. All areas are working to clear backlogs as quickly as possible.
	The plans to clear backlogs for the laboratory providing the service for Northumberland include samples referred for testing in 2005, and in 2006 prior to the additional capacity becoming available. The laboratory originally anticipated clearing all backlogs by February 2007. However current staff shortages and a greater than anticipated rise in demand for genetic testing services mean that the date for clearing all of the backlog is likely to slip to later in 2007.

Campylobacter Infections

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of campylobacter infections was in the most recent 24 months for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The following data are laboratory reports of human isolates of "Campylobacter" for the period July 2004 to June 2006 in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland and week 21 of 2004 to week 28 of 2006 in Scotland. It has not been possible to produce a combined United Kingdom monthly figure due to differences in the way that the data is recorded.
	
		
			  Laboratory reports( 1)  of Campylobacter: England and Wales 
			  Month  2004  2005 ( 2) 2006 
			 January — 2,174 2,695 
			 February — 2,329 2,416 
			 March — 2,350 2,441 
			 April — 3,173 2,261 
			 May — 3,965 3,957 
			 June — 6,257 5,716 
			 July 4,237 5,239 — 
			 August 4,410 5,104 — 
			 September 4,571 5,107 — 
			 October 3,531 3,749 — 
			 November 3,239 3,804 — 
			 December 2,492 3,047 — 
			 (1 )Figures presented are for faeces and lower gastrointestinal tract isolates by earliest specimen month(2 )Provisional Source: Centre for infections, environmental and enteric diseases, Health Protection Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Laboratory reports of Campylobacter: Northern Ireland 
			  Month  2004  2005 ( 1) 2006 
			 January — 43 47 
			 February — 45 44 
			 March — 51 64 
			 April — 58 47 
			 May — 90 98 
			 June — 129 129 
			 July 78 96 — 
			 August 97 86 — 
			 September 73 85 — 
			 October 92 80 — 
			 November 66 80 — 
			 December 33 48 — 
			 (1) Provisional Source:Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland 
		
	
	
		
			  Laboratory reports of Campylobacter Scotland 
			  4-week period  2004  2005 ( 1) 2006 
			 1-4 — 178 210 
			 5-8 — 236 269 
			 9-12 — 212 222 
			 13-16 — 227 235 
			 17-20 — 277 237 
			 21-24 389 474 501 
			 25-28 455 466 551 
			 29-32 448 516 — 
			 33-36 438 506 — 
			 37-40 428 366 — 
			 41-44 339 374 — 
			 45-48 351 389 — 
			 49-52 (2)294 360 — 
			 (1) Provisional(2) There were 53 reporting weeks in 2004, the data for week 53 is included in the data for weeks 49-52 Source:Health Protection Scotland

Cancelled Operations

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS operations were cancelled in Lancashire due to  (a) administrative errors,  (b) lack of beds,  (c) outbreaks of MRSA or other infections,  (d) the lack of correct or clean equipment and  (e) missing notes in each year since 1997.

Andy Burnham: The information is not available in the format requested. Figures for last minute cancellations of operations for non-clinical reasons in the former Lancashire and Cumbria strategic health authority area are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of cancellations 
			 2002-03 2,990 
			 2003-04 2,583 
			 2004-05 2,307 
			 2005-06 2,357 
			  Source: Department of Health dataset QMCO

Clinicenta Bid

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many bids were made for the development, construction and operation of the new surgical hubs and assessment and diagnostic centres in South London for which Clinicenta has been made preferred bidder; what consideration was given to an in-house NHS bid; and what the difference in cost was between the Clinicenta bid and an in-house NHS bid;
	(2)  what the cost is of the contract for the development, construction and operation of the new surgical hubs and assessment and diagnostic centres in South London for which Clinicenta has been made preferred bidder; and on what grounds Clinicenta was made the preferred bidder.

Ivan Lewis: The South London scheme is part of the second phase of procurement of health services from the independent sector. The procurement is being conducted in compliance with European Union procurement law.
	Interested parties responded to an advertisement in the Official Journal of the European Union and were sent a memorandum of information (MOI) and a pre-qualifying questionnaire (PQQ). From the response to the MOI and PQQ, four bidders were invited to negotiate and meet specific criteria including clinical services, workforce, IM and T, contract management and finance. One of the four invitations to negotiate was issued to a national health service body/private sector joint venture and their bid was evaluated together with the other bids received. The same process of evaluation was undertaken for each bid. The difference in costs between the bids are commercially sensitive and cannot be disclosed.
	Clinicenta were appointed preferred bidder as they were considered able to provide high quality medical services for NHS patients and provide best value for money.
	Negotiations are ongoing and no contract has been signed. Information on the value of the contract is commercially sensitive and its disclosure would undermine the Department's ability to obtain best value for money in negotiating this and other schemes.

Clostridium Difficile

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Health what guidance her Department has givento  (a) NHS hospitals,  (b) nursing and care homes, (c) dentists,  (d) ambulance trusts,  (e) general practitioners,  (f) other hospitals,  (g) St. John's Ambulance Service and  (h) the British Red Cross on preventing  Clostridium difficile; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: All those providing health care services need high standards of hygiene to prevent infections. Specific measures to control  Clostridium difficile are restriction, where possible, of broad spectrum antibiotics, isolation of patients and enhanced environmental cleaning, all of these measures are most relevant to their providing in-patient services.
	The following specific guidance on  Clostridium difficile has been made available to national health service staff.
	A joint professional letter from the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Nursing Officer went out to NHS trusts in December 2005 to remind them of the importance of this infection. This letter listed the key actions to control  Clostridium difficile and highlighted the guidance available(1,2). The letter is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/55/23/04125523.pdf
	A high impact intervention on  Clostridium difficile was added to our delivery programme "Saving lives: a delivery programme to reduce healthcare associated infections including MRSA" in June 2006. This tool will help to reduce infections. Although much of the current guidance is still extant we have asked the health protection agency to review the national guidance, this should be ready in the spring.
	A simple guide to  Clostridium difficile and the National  Clostridium difficile Standards group: Report to the Department of Health are also available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/06/76/51/04067651.pdf
	(1) Clostridium Difficile Infection, Prevention and Management, a report by Department of Health/PHLS joint working group. 1994.
	(2) Guidelines for optimal surveillance of  Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals Brazier JS and Duerden BI. Guidelines for optimal surveillance of  Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals. Comm.Dis.Pub.Health. 1998:1;(4) 229-230.

Connected Care Pilot

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Connected Care pilot project in the Owton Ward of the Hartlepool constituency; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: This is not a formal Department project. We will, however, be interested in the outcome of the pilot.

Dairy Industry

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many inspections of UK milk and dairy products establishments were carried out by the Food Standards Agency in each year since 1997, broken down by region; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent estimate she has made of Government spending on the inspection of UK milk and dairy products establishments, broken down by region in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I have assumed that the references to regulations relate to the food hygiene legislation applicable to milk and dairy products establishments. Beyond hygiene, milk and dairy products are, as with other foods, required to be compliant with general food law and legislation including labelling, contaminants, additives and composition. Information relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
	I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that between 1997 and 31 December 2005 the hygiene legislation under which milk and dairy products establishments were regulated in England was the Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995 (as amended) and the Milk and Dairies (General) Regulations 1959 (as amended). On 1 January 2006, new and directly applicable EC food hygiene legislation came into effect which superseded this legislation (Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 and Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004).
	The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate (DHI) is part of the State Veterinary Service (an executive agency of DEFRA) and acts on behalf of the agency in administering and enforcing the hygiene legislation at registered milk production holdings prior to processing such as pasteurisation, bottling or the manufacture of dairy products. Local authorities enforce the regulations in establishments undertaking activities in relation to milk beyond the remit of the DHI and the remainder of the dairy industry.
	The Agency has obtained information from the DHI relating to inspections of registered milk production holdings carried out in England during the period requested which is set out in the table. I am advised that information is not collected in such a way that allows it to be presented by region.
	
		
			  Inspections carried out by the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate in England, 1996-97 to 2005-06 
			   Number of inspections  Dairy hygiene inspectorate costs (£)  Number of final notices of intention to cancel registration issued 
			 1996-97 11,948 955,413 73 
			 1997-98 12,198 1,128,188 51 
			 1998-99 10,002 940,188 60 
			 1999-2000 10,048 900,332 63 
			 2000-01(1) 8,812 828,328 120 
			 2001-02(1) 4,214 339,570 80 
			 2002-03 13,472 1,293,312 164 
			 2003-04 13,543 1,299,072 170 
			 2004-05 13,324 1,330,972 178 
			 2005-06 13,119 1,338,138 142 
			 (1) 2000-01 and 2001-02 figures are reduced due to the suspension of inspections during the foot and mouth outbreak.  Source: Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate 
		
	
	Given the remit of the DHI, the final notices to which reference is made in the table will have been issued due to breaches of the hygiene legislation. The agency was advised that the DHI does not collect other information on breaches centrally.
	Information on local authority food law enforcement, including breaches resulting in formal enforcement action, is collected by the agency under monitoring arrangements to satisfy European requirements. However, this does not provide the level of detail required for information on milk and dairy products nor does the agency collect information on the costs of these activities.
	There are currently approximately 1,100 approved dairy products establishments in England which are required to be inspected in accordance with the statutory Food Law Code of Practice at a minimum frequency of six months.

Dentistry

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) adults and  (b) children were registered with an NHS dentist in each parliamentary constituency in (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The latest information available for registration data covering this time series has been published by The Information Centre for health and social care "NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006". The spreadsheet placed in the Library shows this data.

Doctor:Nurse Ratios

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Health what is the average ratio of  (a) nurses and  (b) doctors per 100 hospital beds in (i) England and (ii) each primary care trust in London; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The average ratio of nurses and doctors per 100 hospital beds in England and in the London strategic health authority is shown in the table.
	It is not possible to provide information in respect of all nurses and doctors per 100 beds in the format requested because staff and numbers of hospital beds in national health service trusts are not recorded by primary care trust.
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services (HCHS):  Medical and dental staff and qualified nursing staff per 100 available beds 
			  Number and full-time equivalents 
			   England  London SHA 
			   Number  Fte  Number  Fte 
			 All available beds (1) 175,646 n/a 28,116 n/a 
			 Qualified Nurses (2) 381,257 307,744 66,240 53,908 
			 per 100 beds 217 : 100 175 : 100 236 : 100 792 : 700 
			 Medical and Dental Staff(2) 90,630 82,568 19,330 17,406 
			 per 100 beds 52 : 100 47 : 100 69 : 100 62 : 700 
			 n/a = not applicable(1) Beds data is number of available beds 2005-06.(2 )Workforce Data is numbers (headcount) and full time equivalents as at 30 September 2005. Sources: Department of Health form KH03 (Beds Data) The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census

East of England Strategic Health Authority

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable is for the review of acute hospital services in the East of England by the East of England Strategic Health Authority; what part she will play in the review; what plans she has for a new hospital in central Hertfordshire providing cancer services; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities to analyse their local situation and develop plans, in liaison with their local national health service trusts and primary care providers, to deliver high quality NHS services including services for cancer patients.

East of England Strategic Health Authority

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  on which occasions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have met (i) the chairman and (ii) the interim chief executive of the East of England strategic health authority;
	(2)  what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had with the East of England strategic health authority on the future of the Hatfield hospital scheme; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had with the East of England strategic health authority on the future of (i) Queen Elizabeth II hospital, Welwyn Garden City and (ii) Lister hospital, Stevenage;
	(4)  on which occasions in 2006  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have met representatives of (i) Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust and (b) East and North Herts NHS Trust.

Andy Burnham: Officials from the Department's capital investment branch and the East of England strategic health authority (SHA) are invited to and regularly attend meetings of the project boards which both East and North Hertfordshire National Health Service Trust and Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) have established to take forward their respective capital investment plans.
	I met with the chair and finance director of the East of England SHA and the interim and new chief executive on 21 June, 20 July and on 17 October, where the future of the newly formed SHA was discussed in general terms.
	Departmental officials met with the interim chief executive of the new NHS East of England on6 October for a mid-year finance review meeting.
	My right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited Hertfordshire on 4 October and during the visit she met and had lunch with number of people from West Hertfordshire Hospital NHS Trust, chairs and chief executive of Hertfordshire PCT and Watford Hospital.

Edgware Community Hospital

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients used services at Edgware Community Hospital in the last 12 months, broken down by department.

Andy Burnham: This information is not held centrally.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when support for embryonic stem cell research became Government policy; whom was consulted beforehand; and if she make a statement.

Andy Burnham: United Kingdom law on embryo research has evolved over 20 years through public and parliamentary debate. Throughout this time there have been many influencing factors that have helped shape Government policy, including the Warnock Report in 1984. Following the discovery of human embryonic stem cells and cloning mammalian cells, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Genetics Advisory Committee consulted extensively. Their report was considered by the Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group on Cloning in 2000. All of which were subject to extensive public and parliamentary debates.

Emergency Admissions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many emergency admissions for  (a) angina and  (b) asthma there were in hospitals in Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust area in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The latest available information on the number of emergency admissions for angina and asthma in hospitals under Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust in each year since 2001 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes for angina and asthma at Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundation Trust. Admission method (Emergency) 
			   Angina  Asthma 
			 2001-02 664 328 
			 2002-03 715 340 
			 2003-04 706 382 
			 2004-05 728 414 
			  Notes:Finished admission episodes:A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.Diagnosis (primary diagnosis):The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.Angina defined as the following ICD-10 code in primary diagnosis:120 Angina PectorisAsthma defined as the following ICD-10 codes in primary diagnosis:J45 AsthmaJ46 Status asthmaticusEmergency Admission is defined as the following admission methods:21 = Emergency: via accident and emergency (A&E) services, including the casualty department of the provider22 = Emergency: via general practitioner (GP)23 = Emergency: via Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau24 = Emergency: via consultant outpatient clinic28 = Emergency: other means, including patients who arrive via the A&E department of another health care provider. Ungrossed dataFigures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data; that is the data is ungrossed. Data qualityHES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.

General Practitioners

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many single-handed practitioners there are in England; and how many of them have not received the full amount of seniority pay appropriate to their years of experience within the NHS in the financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Rosie Winterton: The latest available general practitioner census information, September 2005, identifies there are currently 2,176 single handed GPs in England.
	Information on numbers of single handed GPs who may not have received the full amount of seniority pay appropriate to their experience in the national health service is not collected centrally.

Health Expenditure (Surrey)

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on health care per capita in Surrey in  (a) 1997-98 and  (b) 2004-05.

Andy Burnham: The following table shows the total expenditure per head by organisations within the Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority area for the years requested.
	
		
			  £ 
			   In cash terms  In real terms at 2004-05 prices 
			 1997-98 618.46 726.11 
			 2004-05 1,181.31 1,181.31 
			  Notes:Expenditure on general dental services and pharmaceutical services accounted for by the Dental Practice Board and prescription pricing division (formerly the Prescription Pricing Authority) of the NHS business services authority, respectively, are excluded. This expenditure cannot be included within the figures for the individual health bodies as they are not included in commissioner accounts Sources:Audited accounts of relevant health authorities 1997-98Audited summarisation forms of Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority 2004-05Audited summarisation schedules of relevant primary care trusts 2004-05Office of National Statistics un-weighted population figures

Health Expenditure Weighting

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 August to question 13422, for each of the three elements of the National Weighted Capitation Formula, what level of capita capitation targets have been set for each of the primary care trusts for the financial year  (a) 2004-05,  (b) 2005-06 and  (c) 2006-07.

Andy Burnham: A single weighted capitation target is calculated for each primary care trust (PCT) at each allocation round. Weighted capitation targets are not set separately for the age, need and unavoidable geographical difference in cost adjustments.
	PCT targets are in section 4 of the 2003-04 to 2005-06 PCT revenue resource limits exposition book and in section 3 of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 PCT revenue resource limits exposition book. Both are available in the Library and at www.dh.gov.uk/allocations.

Healthcare Commission

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many complaints have been considered by the Healthcare Commission since its inception; and what the  (a) average and  (b) maximum time taken has been between initial acceptance of a complaint and final outcome;
	(2)  how many complaints are under consideration by the Healthcare Commission; and what proportion of these has been under consideration for up to  (a) three months and  (b) six months.

Andy Burnham: The Healthcare Commission assumed responsibility for the independent review of national health service complaints at the end of July 2004. I understand from the Chairman of the Commission that between then and 24 October 2006, it received 18,100 requests for review. The Commission has closed 13,400 cases. Of the remaining 4,700 open cases, 3,200 (68 per cent.) have been with the Commission for more than three months. 2,400 ofthe open cases (51 per cent.) have been with the Commission for more than six months.
	I also understand from the Chairman of the Healthcare Commission that as at 30 September 2006, the average age of a closed case was six and a half months. The longest time to resolve a case was two years and two months—this case raised a number of complex issues which required detailed clinical advice.

Heat Map / Health Service Reconfiguration

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library the heat maps that have been prepared by her Department to analyse the impact of hospital closures.

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the heat map discussed in her meeting of 3 July with the Labour Party Chairman and Minister Without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office.

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has produced maps which show the impact of recent health reconfigurations by constituency.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 16 October 2006
	The Department produced a set of maps following discussions with strategic health authorities (SHAs). These gave an indication of local media coverage of health service issues by SHA. The maps were not produced on a constituency basis. They have not been updated. Copies of the maps have been placed in the Library and can be viewed on the Department's website:
	www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/FreedomOfInformation/EreadingRoom/fs/en

Medical Devices Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) fatal accidents and  (b) adverse incident reports to the Medical Devices Agency there were in each year since 1997; what the most common causes were of these incidents; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The information on total numbers of reported medical device related adverse incidents and reported incidents involving fatality is shown in table one.
	
		
			  Table 1: Medical device related adverse incident reports 
			   Total  Reports involving a fatality 
			 1997 5,383 47 
			 1998 6,298 79 
			 1999 6,610 87 
			 2000 7,249 92 
			 2001 7,896 141 
			 2002 8,756 175 
			 2003 8,795 166 
			 2004 8,840 179 
			 2005 7,862 222 
		
	
	For summary information and reporting purposes, the Medical Healthcare products Regulatory Agency now groups the causes of medical device related adverse incidents into three categories:
	Manufacturer responsibility; where the failure cause occurs before delivery, for example design, manufacture, quality control and packaging;
	Healthcare establishment/user responsibility; where the failure cause occurs after delivery, for example performance and/or maintenance failures and degradation or where the device has not been used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for use, that is user error;
	No established device/use link; where the device was subsequently found to work as intended, the device involved was not available for investigation, or the report was made on a precautionary basis.
	The percentage of incidents falling into each of these categories from incident investigations concluded in 2005 is shown in table two.
	
		
			  Table 2: Concluded medical device related adverse incident investigations, 2005 
			  Cause of incident  Percentage reported incidents involving a fatality (numbe  = 164) 
			 Manufacturer responsibility 9 
			 Healthcare establishment/user responsibility 47 
			 No established device/use link 44

Medical Redundancies

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) compulsory and  (b) voluntary redundancies have been made by (i) Barnet primary care trust, (ii) Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust, (iii) Barnet hospital, (iv) Royal Free NHS Trust and (v) Northwick Park hospital since 1 April; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 2 November 2006
	The information collected from strategic health authorities shows that as at 30 September 2006 no redundancies have been made at Barnet primary care trust, Barnet and Chase Farm national health service trust or Royal Free NHS Trust. Barnet hospital is part of the Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust. Northwick Park hospital is part of the North West London NHS Hospital Trust and as at 30 September 2006, there were 33 redundancies at the trust. Separate information is not available in respect of Northwick Park hospital.

Medical Research and Development

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the combined budget was for medical research and research and development within the NHS in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; and what the budget will be in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Medical Research Council( 1)  (MRC)  NHS research and development 
			 2004-05 458 601 
			 2005-06 481 617 
			 2006-07 504 659 
			 (1 )The MRC is the main agency through which the Government support biomedical research. The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Innovation. 
		
	
	The Department's research and development budget for 2007-08 has not yet been set.

Mental Health

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the role of social enterprise models in the provision of mental health care and services; and what discussions the Department has had with the King's Fund on social enterprise.

Ivan Lewis: The White Paper "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say" set out our aims for more responsive, patient and user-focussed care; and identified that social enterprises have a potential role to play in delivering this.
	To date, we have not made any specific assessment of the role of social enterprise models in the provision of mental health care. However, we will be identifying pathfinder social enterprises in early 2007. The learning from pathfinders will inform best practice, and will help to assess the role social enterprises can play in delivering a range of different health and social care services.
	The social enterprise unit in the Department has had informal discussions with the King's Fund on social enterprise.

Mental Health

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received from the Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust on the proposed closure of Rivers Ward mental health in-patient unit in Goole.

Ivan Lewis: No representations have been received from the Humber Mental Health Teaching National Health Service Trust on the proposed closure of the Rivers Ward.

Mental Health

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership's Moving On Arts project; and what funding has been made available to the project by NHS Estates.

Rosie Winterton: The "Moving On Arts" project is being undertaken by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership National Health Service Trust as part of the modernisation of mental health services. £629,200 has been committed from a variety of sources, including private finance initiative site partners and charitable funds, to create the best possible healthcare environment as well as providing opportunities for services users to take part in creative activity as part of their therapy.
	There is a wealth of research evidence to show the positive impact that the environment can have on health and healing. Taking part in the creative process itself is therapeutic in itself, particularly for patients with mental health needs, as it provides a non-verbal means of expressing feelings, aiding relaxation and building self-confidence. Schools, artists and other members of the local community have designed and created some of the artwork and this has fostered a better understanding and knowledge of mental health issues. The resulting artwork plays an important part in creating a healing and comforting environment, which will help mental health users.
	Evaluation is a key part in determining the effectiveness and value for money of any good project and a research project is therefore being undertaken to evaluate the impact of arts on the health, well-being and the morale of mental health service users and staff and provide examples of good practice to the remainder of the NHS. This evaluation project is being funded by the former NHS Estates Agency, which is now part of the Department, with the University of the West of England over two years at a cost of £107,709.

Mesothelioma

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of mesothelioma have been diagnosed in each strategic health authority area in England in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 November 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of mesothelioma have been diagnosed in each strategic health authority area in England in each of the last 10 years. (98859)
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2004. Numbers of cases of mesothelioma for the years 1995 to 2004 by strategic health authority (SHA) are given in the attached table.
	
		
			  Number of newly diagnosed cases of mesothelioma( 1)  by SHA, 1995 to 2004 
			  SHA  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 62 62 75 62 73 67 82 104 116 84 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 36 23 33 47 35 40 51 48 50 42 
			 Essex 46 41 46 65 57 77 78 87 88 60 
			 North West London 26 29 31 25 48 28 37 26 32 42 
			 North Central London 9 17 27 23 17 28 19 23 24 26 
			 North East London 44 41 47 44 43 73 59 54 61 57 
			 South East London 39 31 33 47 47 45 39 42 54 60 
			 South West London 27 18 20 25 31 31 26 47 27 26 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 73 99 73 90 88 99 93 84 77 97 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 40 39 37 31 38 48 52 55 44 54 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 41 39 30 50 65 44 48 63 58 52 
			 West Yorkshire 67 82 63 79 79 73 95 83 97 81 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 49 42 55 70 59 75 92 68 73 80 
			 Greater Manchester 48 48 65 82 62 48 75 72 84 82 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 73 58 83 69 93 80 108 102 88 110 
			 Thames Valley 50 42 55 56 56 58 52 55 48 72 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 49 70 66 82 89 85 108 115 80 96 
			 Kent and Medway 58 35 47 46 63 76 86 85 75 74 
			 Surrey and Sussex 60 57 51 62 82 94 92 80 126 114 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 39 37 48 69 56 60 61 85 77 97 
			 South West Peninsula 35 41 60 70 69 59 87 68 85 84 
			 Somerset and Dorset 20 19 30 42 46 37 46 31 45 45 
			 South Yorkshire 17 18 22 24 43 37 39 51 40 37 
			 Trent 56 47 52 78 61 77 92 89 70 70 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 21 22 37 31 41 44 33 38 45 47 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 19 26 28 26 27 40 41 35 34 43 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 41 47 42 47 54 57 64 46 62 53 
			 West Midlands South 29 20 28 33 37 30 38 44 36 49 
			 England 1,174 1,150 1,284 1,475 1,559 1,610 1,793 1,780 1,796 1,834 
			 (1) Mesothelioma is defined as code C45 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Source: Office for National Statistics.

Milk Tokens

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average length of time taken was for the Token Distribution Unit to issue milk tokens to a claimant once information of a claimant's eligibility was received from HM Revenue and Customs in the last period for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The average length of time taken for the token distribution unit to issue milk tokens to a claimant once information of their eligibility is received from HM Revenue and Customs is 10 working days.
	Information is provided by HM Revenue and Customs to the token distribution unit every four weeks and subsequently milk tokens are issued in the week prior to the start of their validity period.

Ministerial Meetings

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings the Labour Party Chairman and Minister without Portfolio has attended in her Department in relation to the closure or reduction of NHS services in the last 12 months.

Patricia Hewitt: The Labour Party Chairman has not attended any meetings relating to the closure or reduction of national health service services with me, or any other Ministers or officials from the Department for Health in the last 12 months. The Labour Party Chairman often meets with cabinet colleagues to discuss various issues.

Modernising Medical Careers

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctor training posts are planned under the Modernising Medical Careers scheme, broken down by speciality; whether trainee doctors will be able to obtain a speciality of his or her choice; what arrangements have been made for the selection and interview programme; and whether a new IT system has been developed for this selection process.

Rosie Winterton: The provisional number of training places in England projected by the postgraduate deans to be available next year is slightly in excess of 30,000. This includes about 11,500 places in foundation programmes, 15,500 places in specialty training programmes and a further 3,300 places in fixed-term specialty training appointments.
	These figures are indicative and are still subject to further discussions with postgraduate deans, medical Royal colleges and the national health service and will be refined later in the year. Work on the distribution across individual specialties is now under way and the outcome will be published when the figures are confirmed. Foundation programmes are not specialty specific.
	The number of training places in each training programme is planned over time to provide the number of specialists and general practitioners necessary to deliver patient care. Entry to training programmes will be by competition. Each applicant will be able to make up to four applications and can therefore choose to compete for both specialties and locations.
	Selection and recruitment will be managed by postgraduate deans according to person specifications developed for each specialty. Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by expert panels comprising specialists in the field and service representatives. This process will be supported by the medical training appointment service, a United Kingdom wide web-based system designed to support the efficienthandling of applications. This new system goes live on 25 October this year for the handling of foundation programme applications and January 2007 for the start of specialty recruitment.

Monitor

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to extend the financial role of the Foundation Trusts regulator, Monitor, in agreeing NHS trust hospitals' capital and revenue budgets for 2007 to 2010.

Ivan Lewis: The powers of Monitor which is the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of national health service foundation trusts are set out in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. There are no plans to extend Monitor's powers.

Multi-professional Education Levy Budget

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the multi professional education levy budget was in each strategic health authority in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: The multi professional education levy budget allocation to each strategic health authority (SHA) for each of the last three years is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Multi professional education and training allocations by SHA 
			  £000 
			  SHA  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 127,133 139,580 (1)147,469 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 63,336 69,070 73,443 
			 Birmingham and Black Country 185,641 198,876 204,396 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 162,744 177,121 180,582 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 50,617 57,511 59,672 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 84,449 92,100 93,466 
			 Dorset and Somerset 43,496 46,971 47,563 
			 Essex 61,288 66,711 73,457 
			 Greater Manchester 194,776 215,247 225,463 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 109,131 124,828 132,287 
			 Kent and Medway 57,175 66,956 72,193 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 105,272 114,178 106,057 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 125,830 134,598 144,190 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 67,455 73,222 77,873 
			 North Central London 195,814 206,788 219,256 
			 North East London 166,379 174,578 175,442 
			 North West London 185,787 194,520 193,140 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 127,178 139,313 139,854 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 61,271 66,973 66,452 
			 South East London 183,425 192,122 190,038 
			 South West London 113,947 121,130 120,426 
			 South West Peninsula 76,543 95,418 104,361 
			 South Yorkshire 102,238 185,604 (2)195,573 
			 Surrey and Sussex 105,173 123,470 129,263 
			 Thames Valley 112,869 120,849 124,495 
			 Trent 145,290 163,835 170,475 
			 West Midlands South 59,497 64,774 80,062 
			 West Yorkshire 152,167 171,983 178,503 
			 Total 3,225,921 3,598,326 3,725,449 
			 (1) AGW allocation excludes £8,800,000 for skills for health budget.(2) South Yorkshire allocation excludes £32,100,000 for electronic staff record project Note:Allocations are not directly comparable due to the composition of the budget in each year.

National Programme for Information Technology

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2006,  Official Report, column 2137W, on the National Programme for Information Technology, which NHS organisations are subject to cluster areas underpinned by a financial liability for failure to source sufficient numbers of staff with the necessary expertise; which NHS organisations have been deemed liable for such failure since the start of the National Programme for Information Technology; and what the value of the financial liability was for each NHS organisation in each case.

Ivan Lewis: The original obligations to provide resources (managed authority employees) from the national health service to support the local service providers existed in North West/West Midlands cluster and the Southern cluster.
	In the North West/West Midlands cluster, the liability was £4.7 million distributed across the strategic health authorities (SHAs) on a weighted capitation basis.
	In the Southern cluster, the liability was £19 million again distributed across the SHAs on a weighted capitation basis.
	In both cases, the obligation has since been removed in agreement with the local service providers.
	In the remaining clusters, there has been no obligation to provide such resources.

Netcare

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact on the health sector in Lancashire of the award of the capture, assess, treat and support contract to Netcare.

Ivan Lewis: No contract has been awarded to Netcare on the capture, assess, treat and support (CATS) scheme in Lancashire. It is still under negotiation with Netcare as the preferred bidder in the negotiation.
	The CATS scheme will improve local community access to healthcare services, in line with the White Paper "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say" in January which signalled our intention to bring services closer to patients.
	There is a robust process to ensure there is both local support and a capacity need for such schemes, and to reduce the risk that a scheme will destabilise existing service providers. The North West Strategic Health Authority is working closely with the local acute trusts to ensure that the positive impacts of the scheme for the whole local health economy are fully delivered.

NHS (Litigation)

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid out by the NHS litigation authority for each hospital trust in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years.

Andy Burnham: The requested information on how much was paid out by the NHS litigation authority for each hospital trust in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years is shown in the following table.
	Payments made during the last three financial years for hospital trusts in Greater Manchester.
	
		
			  Trust  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Bolton Hospitals National Health Service Trust 1,405,371 2,192,066 2,316,956 
			 Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust 57,031 217,640 20,119 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,497,440 4,649,144 4,160,751 
			 Christie Hospital NHS Trust 163,622 758,461 122,975 
			 Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust 5,545 28,414 38,126 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 5,232,415 4,210,826 6,170,974 
			 Pennine Care NHS Trust 125,059 91,812 73,521 
			 Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust 1,315,741 2,168,935 1,759,870 
			 South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,325,448 885,208 1,072,726 
			 Stockport NHS Foundation Trust 791,994 774,522 652,936 
			 Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 1,676,163 1,032,105 1,123,744 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 408,781 417,866 493,285 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 1,578,514 -175,141 1,488,903 
			  Note:Negative figure can occur when refunds are received from previous payments made into court

NHS (Litigation)

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints were made about services at each hospital in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years; and how many such cases went to litigation.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not collect data on complaints for individual hospitals and has no information about the number of cases that have progressed from being complaints to claims for negligence. The Information Centre for Health and Social Care only collects data on written complaints, by hospital trusts. The following table shows the number of written complaints made about services at each hospital trust in Greater Manchester in each of the last three years.
	
		
			  Written complaints about hospital and community services by trust within Greater Manchester 
			  Trusts within Greater Manchester  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Christie Hospital National Health Service Trust 123 109 102 
			 South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust 412 388 266 
			 Salford Hospitals NHS Trust 519 523 434 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 221 169 146 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 332 319 236 
			 Mental Health Services of Salford NHS Trust 103 — — 
			 Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 388 318 334 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 411 403 410 
			 Pennine Care NHS Trust 131 216 205 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 940 636 664 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 892 861 719 
			 Stockport NHS Trust 325 340 325 
			 Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust — 81 81

NHS Business Service Authority

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contingencies there are for national emergencies within the contract for supply chain logistics due to be managed by the Supply Chain Management Division within the NHS Business Service Authority.

Andy Burnham: In the event of an incident, such as a national emergency, the contract or master services agreement (MSA) allows the retained organisation (the supply chain management division of the NHS Business Services Authority) to direct the resources of Exel Europe (DHL) that are used to provide the contracted services to respond to the incident.
	Further information is available in the MSA, Clause 28 and the definition of an 'Incident' on page 149. The MSA is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/FreedomOfInformation/EreadingRoom/EreadingRoomArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4140043&chk=/U%2B/%2BC
	Exel Europe (DHL) will work closely with the NHS Business Services Authority emergency planning team to ensure that contingency plans are kept up to date.

NHS Salaries

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the NHS spent on the salaries of administrative staff in  (a) 1995 and  (b) 2005.

Rosie Winterton: The table shows the total expenditure on administrative staff by national health service bodies in England in 1994-95 and 2004-05 in cash and real terms and the figures as a percentage of total NHS expenditure:
	
		
			  NHS (England) expenditure on administrative staff 
			   1994-95  2004-05 
			 Cash (£ million) 1,637 3,412 
			 Real terms (£ million at 2004-05 prices) 2,106 3,412 
			 Expenditure on administrative staff as a percentage of total NHS expenditure 5.35 4.89 
			  Notes: 1. 2004-05 data do not include information relating to NHS foundation trusts. 2. Figures are the administrative and clerical staff costs reported in annual financial returns.  Sources: 1. Financial returns of health authorities, strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and NHS trusts. 2. HM Treasury GDP deflator.

NHS Services

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the names and periods of office of those responsible as Chairmen and Chief Executives for the regional and strategic administration of the NHS in Hertfordshire over the last 10 years.

Andy Burnham: The appointment of nationalhealth service trusts chairs has been delegated to the Appointments Commission. I have asked the Appointment Commission's Chair, Sir William Wells, to respond to the hon. Member's specific questions.

NHS Services

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire NHS Investing in Your Health programme; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had in 2006 with (i) Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust and (ii) East and North Herts NHS Trust on the review of "Investing in Your Health".

Andy Burnham: I have not met with Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) or North Hertfordshire National Health Service Trust on the review of "Investing in Your Health" and I am not aware of any meetings that have taken place involving Departmental officials.
	The East of England Strategic Health Authority is beginning a review of acute services across its area including "Investing In Your Health".
	The objective of the review will be to agree a new pattern of hospital services for the region that will meet the demands of 21st century healthcare and be financially sustainable. The initial phase of the review is a technical analysis of how these issues are affecting hospitals in the region.
	Hertfordshire PCT is leading the review of the strategy for "Investing In Your Health" for Hertfordshire looking at operational and affordability assumptions to ensure these are clinically and financially sustainable. This will be completed over the next month and once this is done a structured process will be established, including discussion with our many stakeholders, to prepare detailed service proposals for consultation. This next phase should be completed early in 2007.

NHS Services

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had in 2006 with (i) East of England strategic health authority, (ii) Hertfordshire primary care trust and (iii) East and North Herts NHS Trust on the future of Royston hospital.

Andy Burnham: I am not aware of any meetings having taken place with Ministers or departmental officials as to the future of Royston and district hospital during 2006.

NHS Staff

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by Suffolk West Primary Care Trust on salaries and wages for  (a) general and senior managers,  (b) nurses and midwives and  (c) administrative and clerical staff in each of the last five financial years.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the format requested. However, the table shows staff cost expenditure which includes employers' national insurance contributions, employers' pension contributions and other pension costs. This has been supplied because the Department does not hold data just on salaries and wages centrally, for the period 2002-03 and 2004-05, as Suffolk West Primary Care Trust (PCT) was not established before then.
	
		
			  Suffolk West PCT 
			   2004-05  2003-04  2002-03 
			 Total senior managers and managers 1,661,000 1,199,884 801,417 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting 5,272,000 4,596,315 4,417,034 
			 Administrative and clerical 1,648,000 1,293,662 1,119,723 
			  Source: Annual financial returns for PCTs

Nurse and Physiotherapy Training

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effect of cuts in the Multi-Professional Education and Training Levy for the South Central Strategic Health Authority on the training of  (a) nurses and  (b) physiotherapists.

Rosie Winterton: Decisions on training commissions are for local determination by the strategic health authorities (SHA) and are based on service need. SHAs will be keeping a close watch to ensure there is a sufficient supply of nurses and physiotherapists to meet the needs of local communities.

Organ Transplants

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many organ transplant operations were carried out on private patients in NHS hospitals in the last three years;
	(2)  how many organ transplant operations were carried out in non-NHS hospitals in the last three years; and how many were carried out in NHS hospitals.

Rosie Winterton: Table one shows the number of transplants performed in non-national health service hospitals in the last three financial years 2003 to 2006.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Financial year  Transplant operations 
			 2003-04 2 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 3 
			 Total 5 
		
	
	Table two shows the breakdown by group one (NHS entitled) and group two (non NHS entitled) of transplants performed at NHS hospitals in the last three financial years 2003 to 2006.
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Financial year  Group 1 (NHS entitled)  Group 2 (non NHS entitled)  Total 
			 2003-04 2,802 63 2,865 
			 2004-05 2,689 35 2,724 
			 2005-06 2,765 27 2,792 
			 Total 8,256 125 8,381

Palliative Care

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to introduce the Payment by Results scheme for specialist palliative care services provided on behalf of the NHS by adult independent voluntary and charitable hospices.

Ivan Lewis: There is currently no timetable for extending the scope of payment by results to specialist palliative care, whether provided by national health service organisations or independent, voluntary and charitable hospices.
	Funding for services outside the scope of payment by results continues to be agreed locally with NHS commissioners.

Primary Care

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the new primary care trust offices in Dereham, Norfolk, will be purchased via a private finance initiative.

Andy Burnham: This is a local matter. However, I understand that the newly formed Norwich Primary Care Trust (PCT) accommodation will not be a private finance initiative. The new accommodation will be built by Breckland Council and will be leased to the PCT.

Quality Outcomes Framework

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to link the Quality and Outcomes Framework and implementation of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance.

Caroline Flint: The Department is seeking to ensure that wherever possible National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance should underpin specific quality and outcomes framework (QOF) indicators and that there should be no contradiction between QOF and NICE guidance.
	NICE are working with NHS Employers (who negotiate changes to the QOF with the general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association) to map QOF indicators onto NICE guidance. This is to ensure that QOF indicators are compatible with NICE guidance and that any apparent differences arising from the different purposes of NICE guidance and QOF are explained.

Stem Cell Research

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward legislation with similar provisions to the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act passed by the United States Senate in July; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Government are committed to supporting all forms of stem cell research in the United Kingdom (UK) and has doubled its commitmentfor public sector spending on stem cell research to£100 million over the next two years.
	The current legislative framework for stem cell research in the UK has helped make this country a recognised international leader in the field. Any future legislation necessary in this area will be drafted with the objective of consolidating and enhancing the ability of scientists to develop new therapies.

Stem Cell Research

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her position is on EU level controls on stem cell research; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Control of stem cell research across the European Union is carried out at member state level in accordance with the laws of each individual state, a position which the Government supports. The United Kingdom (UK) is a global leader in stem cell research. In order to maintain this lead, the Government have allocated an additional £50 million to this work, bringing total investment up to£100 millon, for stem cell research between 2006 to 2008. In addition, UK researchers may apply for EU (FP7) funding if the research meets the necessary criteria.

Sussex Health Professionals

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time(i) doctors, (ii) nurses and (iii) other health professionals work at (A) the Royal Sussex county hospital, (B) Worthing hospital and (C) Southlands hospital in West Sussex.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is only held at trust-level. The following table contains the requested information for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust.
	
		
			  Hospital and community health services: medical and dental and non-medical staff within specified organisations by nature of contract, as at 30 September 2005 
			  Number (headcount) 
			   Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust  Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust 
			   All staff  Full-time  Part-time  Other( 1)  All staff  Full-time  Part-time  Other( 1) 
			 All medical and dental staff(2) 685 619 59 7 304 262 42 0 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 2,127 1,255 822 50 1,199 570 469 160 
			 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 731 488 243 0 355 219 136 0 
			 (1) Includes fixed-term appointments, staff with honorary contracts and bank nurses. (2) Medical and dental staff that have maximum part-time contracts are added to those staff with full-time contracts in order to reflect their substantially whole-time commitment.  Sources: 1. The Information Centre for health and social care medical and dental workforce census. 2. The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census.

Waiting Lists/Times

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times have been for  (a) heart and  (b) cancer operations in Bolsover constituency in each year since 1997.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not available in the format required. However, the count of mean and median waiting times in the Bolsover constituency, where North Eastern Derbyshire PCT was the PCT area of residence for heart operations, is contained in the following table.
	
		
			   Mean waiting time in days  Median waiting time in days 
			 1996-97 149.5 107 
			 1997-98 171 136 
			 1998-99 154.9 101 
			 1999-2000 130.9 80 
			 2000-01 147.7 104 
			 2001-02 142 112 
			 2002-03 125.9 102 
			 2003-04 117.4 108 
			 2004-05 92.4 89 
			  NotesWe cannot provide information on the waiting times for cancer operations as it is too difficult to specify which operations are specifically for treating cancer. For example, some procedures may be used to treat cancer but may also be used to treat other conditions. Finished admission episodes:A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Data quality:Hospital episode statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The Health and Social Care Information Centre liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. Whilst this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Ungrossed data:Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). Main operationThe main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg. time waited, but the figures for 'all operations count of episodes' give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. OPCS CODES OPCS CODES K01-K71 Used for heart operations. Primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) data quality:PCT and SHA data were added to historic data-years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of GP practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data. Time waited (days):Time waited statistics from hospital episode statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension. Source:Hospital episode statistics (HES), The Information Centre for Health and Social Care

Watford General Hospital

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the proposed private finance initiative redevelopment of Watford general hospital; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities to analyse their local situation and develop plans, in liaison with their local national health service trusts and primary care providers, to deliver high quality NHS services.
	Hertfordshire PCT has been tasked, by East of England strategic health authority, to carry out a review of the "Investing In Your Health" strategy looking at east and north and west Hertfordshire. In particular whether the current configuration plans are financially sustainable and, if not, the degree of change that would be required.
	The West Hertfordshire NHS Trust capital investment scheme is one of those included in the private finance initiative reappraisal exercise which the Government announced in January. Decisions have already been announced on a number of the schemes involved in the reappraisal; that concerning West Hertfordshire will be made in due course and will of course have to take into account the factors mentioned above.

West Midlands Ambulance Service

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the new non-executive directors of the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust are; and what their registrable  (a) interests and  (b) affiliations are.

Rosie Winterton: The appointment of non-executive directors of national health service trusts, including ambulance trusts, has been delegated to the Appointments Commission. I have asked Sir William Wells, chairman, to write to the hon. Member with the detailed information requested.

West Sussex Hospitals

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will visit hospitals in West Sussex planned for closure or downgrading.

Caroline Flint: My right hon. Friend has no current plans to visit West Sussex. She did however, visit services in the former Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority on 14 July 2006. She met with a number of senior health and social care providers including the chief executives and chairs of the hospitals the hon. Member is referring to.
	The Secretary of State also held a staff engagement session at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals National Health Service Trust which included clinical and non-clinical staff from across the health economy.

Health Expenditure Weighting

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 August to question 13422, if she will set out the impact of the weighting of the three elements of the National Weighted Capitation Formula in three hierarchical tables where the primary care trusts with the highest weighting, and therefore receiving the greatest resources placed at the top and those with the least at the bottom.

Andy Burnham: The information has been placed in the Library.

Albania

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who he met during his recent visit to Albania; what matters were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: I have not visited Albania. On 4 April 2006 the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, visited Albania as part of a regional tour that also included visits to Romania and Bulgaria. In Albania he met the Prime Minister, Sali Berisha; the Minister of the Interior, Sokol Olldashi; the Minister of Justice, Aldo Bumci; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Besnik Mustafaj. The meetings were constructive and areas of discussion included how the UK and Albania could continue to work together to tackle serious organised crime, manage migration and combat terrorism.

Alcohol (Minors)

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for selling alcohol to minors in the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is provided in the table. Data for 2005 will be available in late November.
	The offence of sale of alcohol to a person under 18 can attract a penalty notice for disorder (PND). The offence was added to the PND scheme on 1 November 2004, and there were 113 penalty notices issued for the offence in November and December of that year. A further 2,058 penalty notices issued for the offence in 2005. Data for this period for PNDs have been provided as 2005 is the most recent 12 month period for which complete and finalised data is available.
	
		
			  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences related to the sale of alcohol to persons under 18, England and Wales 1995-2004( 1, 2) 
			  Offence  Offence description  Principal statute  Year  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 14203 Selling etc intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises Licensing Act 1964 S.169 A & B as added by Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 S.1 2004 814 586 
			   
			 14352 Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18 Licensing Act 1964 S.181 A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 S.17 2004 5 3 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source:RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Alcohol-related Crime

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been made available in each constabulary for tackling alcohol-related crime in each of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns; and on what dates the money was made available in each constabulary.

Tony McNulty: We do not hold the information in the format requested as not all participating police forces were the same in each of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns (AMECs). To collate that information at this stage would involve disproportionate cost. However, the total amounts of funding provided to police forces for each of the AMECs are as follows.
	
		
			   BCUs( 1)  £ million 
			 AMEC one (Summer 2004) 92 1.5 
			 AMEC two (Christmas 2004) 188 1.2 
			 AMEC three (14 November 2005 to 31 December 2005) 233 2.5 
			 AMEC four (8 May to 8 June 2006) 221 2.3 
			 (1) Basic Command Units

Alcohol-related Crime

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been for alcohol-related crimes in each quarter of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested, covering the years 2000-04, are provided in the first table.
	Data for 2005 will be available in late November 2006.
	Additionally, the penalty notice for disorder scheme was brought into effect in all police forces in England and Wales in 2004. Under the scheme the police are able to issue persons committing specified minor offences with a fixed penalty notice of either £50 or £80. No admission of guilt is required and payment of the penalty discharges all liability for the offence. Data on the number of PNDS issued for these offences in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (provisional January to June), broken down by quarter, are provided in the second table. A list of those alcohol-related offences for which a PND may be issued is also included in the second table.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for alcohol related offences, by offence class and quarter, England and Wales 2000-04( 1,2) 
			   Drunkenness, simple  Drunkenness, with aggravation  Offence by licensed person, etc.( 3)  Other offences against liquor laws( 4) 
			  2000 
			 Quarter 1 734 6,476 61 50 
			 Quarter 2 755 6,162 63 31 
			 Quarter 3 819 6,002 34 44 
			 Quarter 4 661 5,573 51 28 
			 Total 2,969 24,213 209 153 
			  
			  2001 
			 Quarter 1 684 6,167 54 34 
			 Quarter 2 666 5,763 43 28 
			 Quarter 3 696 5,963 41 26 
			 Quarter 4 695 5,612 35 31 
			 Total 2,741 23,505 173 119 
			  
			  2002 
			 Quarter 1 646 6,311 42 44 
			 Quarter 2 644 5,991 55 18 
			 Quarter 3 644 6,194 44 29 
			 Quarter 4 576 5,892 79 47 
			 Total 2,510 24,388 220 138 
			  
			  2003 
			 Quarter 1 559 6,439 98 40 
			 Quarter 2 596 6,177 142 41 
			 Quarter 3 591 6,420 134 23 
			 Quarter 4 553 6,362 129 45 
			 Total 2,299 25,398 503 149 
			  
			  2004 
			 Quarter 1 577 6,335 149 48 
			 Quarter 2 488 5,147 178 53 
			 Quarter 3 499 4,246 206 37 
			 Quarter 4 384 3,457 150 25 
			 Total 1,948 19,185 683 163 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (3) Includes offences of licence holders permitting violent conduct on premises, sale of alcohol out of hours etc.  (4) Includes offences of individuals buying, selling alcohol unlawfully etc.   Source:  RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder issued for alcohol-related offences( 1)  In England and Wales to offenders aged 16 and over, by quarter, 2004-05 and January to June 2006 provisional data( 2) 
			   Quarter 1  Quarter 2  Quarter 3  Quarter 4 
			 2004 2,373 6,898 9,743 10,694 
			 2005 9,329 9,525 9,969 12,694 
			 2006(3) 10,825 12,913 ? ? 
			 (1) See offence list for offences which make up PND alcohol offences.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(3) January to June provisional data. 
		
	
	 PND alcohol offences:
	Being guilty while Drunk of disorderly behaviour
	Sale of alcohol to a drunken person(1)
	Supply of alcohol to a person under 18(1)
	Sale of alcohol to person under 18(1)
	Purchase alcohol for person under 18(1)
	Purchase alcohol for person under 18 for consumption on the premises
	Delivery of alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery(1)
	Being found drunk in a highway or other public place
	Consumption of alcohol in public place
	Consumption of alcohol by under 18 on relevant premises(1)
	Allowing consumption of alcohol by under 18 on relevant premises(1)
	Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol for person under 18(1)
	(1) Offences came into force on 1 November 2004

Angling

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action his Department is taking to protect anglers from attacks by anti-fishing extremists; and what consultation has been undertaken with angling organisations.

Tony McNulty: We condemn attacks on individuals enjoying lawful recreational activities such as angling. While the Government supports a person's right to protest lawfully about activities they oppose, people also have a right to be free to carry out their lawful business or recreation without fear of intimidation or violence.
	Police forces treat all incidents related to animal rights extremism very seriously and will monitor campaigns and respond accordingly to any increase in unlawful incidents.
	The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Policing, Security and Community Safety, Vernon Coaker is meeting representatives of the angling community next month to discuss their concerns about anti-angling activities and to look at what more can be done to protect anglers.

Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of anti-Semitic violence in  (A) Southend,  (B) Essex and  (C) England and Wales in the last 12 months, broken down by age.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is not possible to identify from data collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, those prosecutions, or convictions which relate to anti-Semitic behaviour as the data is not collected at this level of detail.

Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received from  (a) hon. Members,  (b) Members of the House of Lords,  (c) organisations and  (d) members of the public on anti-Semitism in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have had with representatives of the Jewish community to discuss anti-Semitism in England and Wales; what reply was given; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, her ministerial team, and her officials have met with various community stakeholders to discuss a broad range of issues. Anti-Semitism may well have been raised as one such issue during these often wide-ranging discussions. Similarly the Secretary of State also receives many representations, and correspondence, from a broad cross-section of society on many wide- ranging issues, in which anti-Semitism may well have been raised.
	For example, the Secretary of State, recently met with the Chief Rabbi where general issues concerning the Jewish community were discussed, and more recently received a representation from the Labour Friends of Israel which includes Members from both the House of Commons and House of Lords. My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion recently met with the Board of Deputies of British Jews to discuss issues affecting the Jewish community, and with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to discuss its future work plans. He more recently met with John Mann MP the co-chair of the all party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism to discuss the Inquiry's report. I have also helped chair one of the two meetings of the Faith Communities Consultative Council this year, which Jewish representatives are part of, to discuss faith related issues. Officials from the Cohesion and Faiths Unit have also recently met with John Mann MP and officials supporting the All Party Committee into Anti-Semitism to discuss progress towards production of the Government's response to the inquiry's report. Few records were kept of these discussions however, where they exist arrangements will be made to place copies in the Library.
	The Government have said that its response to the report of the all party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism will be provided by the middle of November 2006.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) prosecutions have been made and  (b) fixed penalty notices have been issued by (i) police and (ii) local authorities for  (A) fly tipping,  (B) graffiti,  (C) dog fouling,  (D) the dropping of litter and  (E) parking offences in each of the last 20 years.

Tony McNulty: Available information on fixed penalty notices issued by the police and penalty charge notices issued by local authority parking attendants is provided in table 1, from 1997-2004 (latest available). For police issued fixed penalty notices, the information relates to all offences of "obstruction, waiting and parking".
	There is no fixed penalty notice available for the offence of fly tipping by local authority, as prosecution of this offence is through the courts.
	The number of fixed penalty notices issued by local authorities for the offences of graffiti, dog fouling and the dropping of litter are included in table 2. These figures only include those notices issued by English authorities, as the Secretary of State can only request this information of the English authorities. The National Assembly of Wales is responsible for collecting this information in Wales.
	The 2005-06 figures, relating to the above, are due to be released in November, once the dataset has been compiled and audited.
	Data from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform showing the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to fly tipping, littering and dog fowling in England and Wales for the years 1997-2004, broken down by police force area, can be viewed in table 3.
	Court proceedings data broken down by local authority area is not available as court proceedings data are not collected at that level of detail.
	Data for 2005 will be available in mid November.
	
		
			  Table 1: Fixed penalty notices and penalty charge notices issued for breaches of obstruction, waiting and parking regulations( 1,2)  England and Wales, 1997-2004 
			  Thousand 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			  Fixed penalty notices 
			 Metropolitan and City of London police 162 206 193 197 142 143 210 162 
			 Other police forces 2,038 1,912 1,615 1,398 1,183 1,022 834 720 
			 Total 2,199 2,118 1,808 1,595 1,325 1,165 1,044 883 
			  Penalty charge notices 
			 London 3,686 3,733 3,664 4,021 4,222 4,799 5,053 5,392 
			 Other local authorities(3) 83 138 292 634 1,081 1,614 2,070 2,261 
			 Total 3,769 3,872 3,956 4,655 5,303 6,413 7,123 7,653 
			  
			  Total fixed penalties and penalty charge notices 5,968 5,990 5,764 6,251 6,628 7,578 8,167 8,536 
			 (1) Fixed penalty notices issued by police (including traffic wardens) for breaches under relevant statutes.  (2) Penalty charge notices issued by local authority parking attendants under decriminalised parking enforcement powers.  (3) England only from 1997 to 2002.   Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police and local authorities. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source: RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform Ref: PQ 229-06 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The number of fixed penalty notices issued by local authorities for the offences of graffiti, dog fouling and the dropping of litter, in England, financial years 1997- 2005 
			   Litter( 1)  Dogs( 2)  Graffiti( 3) 
			 1997-98 727 292 (4)— 
			 1998-99 4,777 1,321 (4)— 
			 1999-2000 2,970 1,545 (4)— 
			 2000-01 2,247 1,817 (4)— 
			 2001-02 11,615 2,311 (4)— 
			 2002-03 12,820 2,036 (4)— 
			 2003-04 7,565 2,742 (4)— 
			 2004-05 25,216 3,557 19 
			 (1 )Offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.  (2 )Offence under the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996.  (3) Offence under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.  (4 )Nil   Source: DEFRA 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offences related to fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling, by police force area, England and Wales 1997-2004 
			   Fly-tipping offences( 1) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000( 4)  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Avon and Somerset 2 1 — — 1 1 1 — 
			 Bedfordshire — 6 — — 2 1 2 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 3 9 — — — — — 1 
			 Cheshire — 2 4 4 6 6 12 3 
			 City of London — — — — — — — — 
			 Cleveland 6 5 3 5 1 1 2 4 
			 Cumbria 4 3 1 4 — 2 6 1 
			 Derbyshire 1 4 4 4 13 4 6 8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9 4 9 10 14 17 13 23 
			 Dorset 5 — — 2 1 4 — — 
			 Durham — 1 1 3 — — 1 — 
			 Essex 10 11 4 7 5 2 3 10 
			 Gloucestershire — 1 2 — — 1 — — 
			 Greater Manchester 1 3 13 12 9 10 21 10 
			 Hampshire 10 8 3 2 7 9 6 5 
			 Hertfordshire 4 3 11 7 4 4 3 2 
			 Humberside — 3 5 3 5 20 17 9 
			 Kent — — — — — 1 2 17 
			 Lancashire 6 25 26 28 11 47 24 17 
			 Leicestershire — 3 — — 1 1 — 4 
			 Lincolnshire 2 7 4 10 9 11 8 12 
			 Merseyside 2 1 2 3 5 — — 1 
			 Metropolitan Police 4 11 18 5 10 15 12 45 
			 Norfolk 1 4 1 — — 1 1 2 
			 North Yorkshire — 6 5 — 6 — 2 — 
			 Northamptonshire — 3 7 5 1 2 — — 
			 Northumbria 8 8 14 23 9 7 18 23 
			 Nottinghamshire — — 1 — 1 — — 3 
			 South Yorkshire 12 13 6 8 4 10 10 9 
			 Staffordshire — 2 2 (4)— — 3 — 2 
			 Suffolk 4 — 2 1 4 2 — 6 
			 Surrey 6 15 — 7 4 13 3 1 
			 Sussex — 4 1 5 6 1 4 4 
			 Thames Valley 1 — 6 10 10 17 18 20 
			 Warwickshire 1 — — — — 2 2 2 
			 West Mercia 2 — 5 2 3 5 1 2 
			 West Midlands 6 24 39 10 21 24 33 26 
			 West Yorkshire 4 9 10 4 3 2 2 5 
			 Wiltshire — — — — — — — — 
			 Dyfed-Powys — 5 1 2 1 2 1 3 
			 Gwent 1 — — 2 6 — 4 2 
			 North Wales — — — 2 6 3 3 7 
			 South Wales 2 2 3 2 18 18 12 19 
			 England and Wales 117 206 213 192 207 269 253 309 
		
	
	
		
			   Allowing dog to foul in designated public place( 2) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000( 4)  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Avon and Somerset — 3 5 14 24 14 9 11 
			 Bedfordshire — — 2 4 — — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire — 2 2 — — — — — 
			 Cheshire — 1 1 — 4 2 1 1 
			 City of London — — — — — — — — 
			 Cleveland —. — — — — — 1 1 
			 Cumbria — 1 3 3 2 6 34 32 
			 Derbyshire 4 46 20 5 15 28 29 14 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 6 1 — 5 1 5 5 
			 Dorset — 5 18 5 3 4 7 3 
			 Durham — — 6 5 2 1 — — 
			 Essex   4 5 1 2 4 4 
			 Gloucestershire — — — 2 — — 2 2 
			 Greater — — — 16 11 49 108 147 
			 Hampshire 11 16 50 22 7 3 4 7 
			 Hertfordshire — 5 2 2 — — 1 1 
			 Humberside — 13 24 24 12 4 1 — 
			 Kent — — — — 5 12 14 2 
			 Lancashire 2 14 36 45 40 20 25 32 
			 Leicestershire — 7 — — — — — — 
			 Lincolnshire — — 3 16 11 1 11 8 
			 Merseyside 1 6 6 20 22 1 — 17 
			 Metropolitan Police 9 9 27 35 76 112 59 47 
			 Norfolk — — 1 — — — 2 — 
			 North Yorkshire 5 12 14 11 17 3 27 15 
			 Northamptonshire — 1 — 34 22 2 15 6 
			 Northumbria 1 — 2 1 — 1 9 28 
			 Nottinghamshire — 1 8 4 1 — 6 1 
			 South Yorkshire — — — — 5 6 2 17 
			 Staffordshire — — — (4)— — — 1 — 
			 Suffolk — 4 3 3 3 3 — 2 
			 Surrey — — — 4 — 1 1 — 
			 Sussex 1 2 — 5 1 4 — 1 
			 Thames Valley — — 3 2 — 3 5 2 
			 Warwickshire — — — 9 9 1 6 2 
			 West Mercia — — — 4 — 2 1 1 
			 West Midlands — 1 — 2 — 2 2 5 
			 West — 1 35 21 21 14 15 13 
			 Wiltshire — 4 1 3 2 2 2 3 
			 Dyfed-Powys — — — 2 7 25 18 10 
			 Gwent — — — — 10 4 18 18 
			 North Wales 10 23 9 2 13 16 4 3 
			 South Wales — 1 8 11 15 6 5 — 
			 England and Wales 45 184 294 341 366 355 454 461 
		
	
	
		
			   Depositing litter( 3) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000( 4)  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Avon and Somerset 3 3 4 4 3 3 5 4 
			 Bedfordshire 6 1 2 3 2 1 2 4 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 2 3 3 2 — 5 1 
			 Cheshire 3 3 2 — 3 2 2 4 
			 City of London 2 2 3 — — — — — 
			 Cleveland 23 16 7 18 15 6 8 4 
			 Cumbria 51 60 43 26 28 21 32 39 
			 Derbyshire 8 16 15 15 10 5 1 5 
			 Devon and Cornwall 20 13 5 5 4 5 9 25 
			 Dorset 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 — 
			 Durham 4 4 8 9 6 4 4 5 
			 Essex 12 24 14 9 10 6 9 28 
			 Gloucestershire 7 18 3 4 7 1 1 3 
			 Greater 13 23 13 17 12 13 17 129 
			 Hampshire 10 10 15 11 27 11 18 15 
			 Hertfordshire 6 6 4 3 2 4 6 16 
			 Humberside 4 2 4 — 3 — 4 3 
			 Kent 5 — 4 5 4 6 6 12 
			 Lancashire 18 7 18 9 5 5 11 13 
			 Leicestershire 5 4 6 4 6 9 18 20 
			 Lincolnshire 12 10 6 3 — 2 1 2 
			 Merseyside 3 11 11 41 18 7 6 59 
			 Metropolitan Police 76 80 137 118 136 74 107 174 
			 Norfolk 1 3 3 6 6 7 5 4 
			 North Yorkshire 11 15 15 8 5 5 5 9 
			 Northamptonshire 1 1 11 1 — 1 2 1 
			 Northumbria 20 22 28 43 23 39 69 90 
			 Nottinghamshire 10 10 7 2 2 6 7 10 
			 South Yorkshire 27 21 17 26 14 15 26 43 
			 Staffordshire 6 — 4 (4)— 4 1 5 10 
			 Suffolk 8 5 1 2 4 6 5 2 
			 Surrey 5 3 2 3 2 1 2 3 
			 Sussex — — 3 — 2 — 2 2 
			 Thames Valley 6 6 5 2 3 1 5 1 
			 Warwickshire 5 5 5 3 6 — 2 2 
			 West Mercia 11 15 15 9 9 9 10 14 
			 West Midlands 33 7 6 5 9 11 21 20 
			 West 10 14 6 9 2 4 10 49 
			 Wiltshire 2 5 2 6 8 2 4 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 7 6 7 7 3 3 5 2 
			 Gwent 26 22 14 12 25 4 26 34 
			 North Wales 2 3 3 2 4 1 3 7 
			 South Wales 19 14 18 12 22 29 63 39 
			 England and Wales 505 494 501 466 457 332 551 908 
			 (1) Depositing, causing the deposition or permitting the deposition, treating, keeping or disposing of controlled and special and 'non special' waste in or on land without a licence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990Sec.33(8).  (2) Dogs (fouling of Land) Act 1996 offences.  (3) Offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 S.87.  (4) Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.   Notes:  1. These data are provided on an all offence basis  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source:  RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform Ref: PQ 229-06

Armed Forces (Foreign Nationals)

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals who had served in the British armed forces  (a) applied for and  (b) were granted (i) indefinite leave to remain and (ii) British citizenship in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 6 July 2006
	Figures for applications from foreign nationals for Indefinite Leave to Remain before October 2003 are not available. Figures for the period October 2003 until June 2006 for Indefinite Leave to Remain (settlement) are in the following table.
	
		
			  Armed forces applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement) 
			   Applied for ILR  Granted ILR 
			 October 2003 to March 2004 15 10 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 358 261 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 1,349 1,407 
			 April 2006 to June 2006 608 593 
			 Total 2,330 2,271 
		
	
	The figures relating to applications for citizenship from foreign nationals for the same period are not available.
	The numbers granted do not relate to the applications received because of the time lags involved in dealing with applications.
	The figures quoted are from provisional management information and are subject to change.

Assets Recovery Agency

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much in cash and assets has been seized by the Assets Recovery Agency in each year since its formation.

Vernon Coaker: The Assets Recovery Agency has recovered, as a result of High Court recovery orders or negotiated settlements, the following amounts since its inception:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 (1)— 
			 2004-05 4.3 
			 2005-06 4.1 
			 2006-07(2) 2.3 
			 (1 )No assets recovered in first year of operation  (2) At 27 October 2006.

Asylum/Immigration

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department started to track the numbers of fresh applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain; how many fresh applications have been submitted since the tracking scheme was implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: In the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, applications made to Managed Migration Directorate (MMD) for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) are stored on their Case Information Database. Available information kept since April 2002 of the numbers involved are in the following table.
	The Asylum Casework Directorate (ACD) has kept statistics on the number of main applicants identified for consideration and decisions made by the Family ILR exercise since it began in October 2003. The most recent figures were published in the Q2 2006 Asylum Statistics on 22 August 2006.
	Information on the Asylum Directorate's Family ILR exercise is published quarterly and annually and is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		
			  Period  Number of ILR applications 
			 Year to 31 March 2004 111,408 
			 Year to 31 March 2005 (1)85,657 
			 Year to 31 March 2006 124,934 
			 (1) Reduction in applications due to rule changes that extended the qualification time for marriage ILR from four to five years. 
		
	
	This information has not been quality assured and is not a National Statistic. It should be treated as provisional management information.

Asylum/Immigration

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the report produced for his Department by Professor Dustmann on the effect on immigration of an enlarged EU.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 6 September 2006,  Official Report, column 467W.

British Citizenship (Hong Kong)

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of children from Hong Kong who received their British citizenship certificates after February 2006 have made complaints to the Department about their certificates containing errors.

John Reid: The requested information cannot be obtained without examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.

British Citizenship (Hong Kong)

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time was for children from Hong Kong who applied for British citizenship after February 2006 for their British citizenship certificates.

John Reid: The requested information cannot be obtained without examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.

British Citizenship (Hong Kong)

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children from Hong Kong have applied for British citizenship since February 2006; and how many of these are waiting for their British citizenship certificates.

John Reid: The requested information cannot be obtained without examination of individual records at a disproportionate cost.

Control Orders

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many control orders which allow officials to search a home have been served since their introduction.

Tony McNulty: It is normal practice to include a provision for searching the home of an individual subject to a control order in order to assist enforcement of the order. An example of the obligation can be found in Annex two of Lord Carlile's report of the Independent Reviewer on the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, which was published on 2 February 2006. Responsibility for searching the home of an individual subject to a control order is an operational matter for the police.

Crime Statistics

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the  (a) number and  (b) percentage of (i) youths, (ii) adult males and (iii) adult females from Coventry in custody following sentencing who experienced (A) drug dependency health problems, (B) alcohol dependency health problems and (C) serious mental health problems in each year since 2001.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 30 October 2006
	The information requested is not collected according to prisoner domicile. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Newcastle Upon Tyne, Central (Jim Cousins) on 24 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1814W for the national statistics.

Crime Statistics

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded rate of crime was in Sunderland for  (a) burglary of dwellings,  (b) violence against the person,  (c) vehicle crime,  (d) robbery,  (e) sexual offences,  (f) total violent crime,  (g) theft and handling of stolen goods and  (h) criminal damage in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: Since 1999-2000, data have been collected for Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) which are broadly equivalent to local authority areas. Available information for Sunderland CDRP is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Recorded crime per 1,000 population for Sunderland CDRP 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Burglary in a dwelling 11 10 10 11 8 7 5 
			 Violence against the person 11 11 14 23 21 19 19 
			 Vehicle crime 26 20 21 20 16 13 13 
			 Robbery 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Sexual offences 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Total violent crime 13 12 16 25 23 21 21 
			 Theft and handling of stolen goods n/a 40 45 48 43 35 33 
			 Criminal damage n/a 23 26 33 32 30 28 
			  Note: The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002-03 means data not comparable with later years.

Criminal Justice

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the responses to his Department's public consultation document Criminal Justice System, Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate for Justice and Community Safety; how many  (a) supported and  (b) opposed his proposals; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: A summary of the responses to the consultation document 'Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate for Justice and Community Safety, March 2005' is to be found in the policy statement 'Inspection Reform: Establishing an Inspectorate of Justice, Community Safety and Custody, November 2005' at Annex B, a copy of which was placed in the House Library.
	There were 83 written responses to the consultation document of which 40 supported the proposals, 29 were against and 14 did not make clear their preference.

Departmental Expenditure

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the expenditure was of his private office on  (a) entertainment,  (b) travel and  (c) overnight subsistence in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

John Reid: Information specific to the question is not held in the format requested. Hospitality and travel and subsistence costs for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Hospitality( 1)  Travel and Subsistence( 2) 
			 2003-04 61,383.60 216,616.03 
			 2004-05 128,710.67 334,661.22 
			 2005-06 50,118.87 434,929.32 
			 (1) Figure relates to total expenditure for all Private Offices  (2) Figure relates to travel and subsistence for the UK   Note: Accountancy procedures changed in the Home Office in 2004. Figures before this period can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Departmental Staff

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of staff in  (a) the Prison Service,  (b) the Identity and Passport Office and  (c) the Forensic Science Service were (i) women, (ii) from ethnic minorities and (ii) foreign nationals in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: The current (2006) figures for  (a) HM Prison Service,  (b) Identity and Passport Service, and  (c) the Forensic Science Service are in the table.
	The number of EU foreign nationals employed by the HM Prison Service is not recorded centrally. The Forensic Science Service is a limited Governmental Company and ceased to be a Home Office Agency in December 2005. The foreign national figures for IDPS and FSS include EU Nationals.
	The current (2006) figures for  (a) HM Prison Service,  (b) Identity and Passport Service, and  (c) the Forensic Science Service are as follows:
	
		
			   (i) Women  (ii) Ethnic minority  (iii) Foreign national 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  (a) HMPS 16,938 35 2,840 6 — — 
			  (b) IPS 2,499 63.90 535 13.70 25 0.64 
			  (c) FSS 1,493 57.90 393 15.25 37 1.43

Drug Offenders

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of drugs offences in the East Midlands in each of the last six years.

Vernon Coaker: Available information relates to the number of persons cautioned and found guilty of offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and has been included in the area tables of annual Home Office drug offender publications.
	Data for Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire police force areas, for the period 1999 to 2004, are provided. Data for 2005 are expected to be published in the spring of 2007.
	
		
			  (a) Persons cautioned for drug offences by police force area and year, East Midlands 
			  Number of persons 
			  Police force area  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Derbyshire 473 322 273 279 131 148 
			 Leicestershire 461 380 300 1,039 422 617 
			 Lincolnshire 149 70 278 462 271 191 
			 Northamptonshire 539 473 437 956 456 500 
			 Nottinghamshire 562 575 572 1,367 773 594 
			 Total East Midlands Region 2,184 1,820 1,860 4,103 2,053 2,050 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Persons found guilty( 1)  for drug offences by police force area and year, East Midlands 
			  Number of persons 
			  Police force area  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Derbyshire 788 734 737 1,481 749 732 
			 Leicestershire 776 756 823 1,867 975 892 
			 Lincolnshire 468 382 645 1,107 637 470 
			 Northamptonshire 527 446 322 515 272 243 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,266 1,292 1,159 2,623 1,378 1,245 
			 Total East Midlands Region 3,825 3,610 3,686 7,593 4,011 3,582 
			 (1 )Offenders dealt with for more than one drug offence at the same court appearance are counted only once in the table above.

Drugs Convictions

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of supplying  (a) Class A,  (b) Class B,  (c) Class C and  (d) Class D drugs in each of the last five years; and how many were subsequently given the maximum possible sentence.

Vernon Coaker: The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 classifies illegal substances into three categories: class A, class B and class C. Available data relate to persons found guilty of unlawful supply and possession with intent to supply drug offences between 2000 and 2004 and are given in the tables.
	Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, police forces and other agencies. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when the data are used.
	
		
			  Table 1: persons( 1)  (i) found guilty of drug supply offences and (ii) number given maximum sentence at Crown court, class A drugs, by offence type and year, England and Wales—Class A drugs 
			  Number of persons 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (life)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (life)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (life) 
			  Cocaine   
			 Unlawful supply 428 0 188 0 558 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 594 0 184 0 820 0 
			
			  Crack   
			 Unlawful supply 195 0 188 0 213 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 179 0 187 0 282 0 
			
			  Heroin   
			 Unlawful supply 1,598 9 1,434 0 1,483 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 1,399 0 1,331 0 1,286 0 
			
			  Ecstasy-type   
			 Unlawful supply 540 o 524 0 484 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 1,106 0 1,219 0 1,056 0 
			
			  LSD   
			 Unlawful supply 22 0 3 0 7 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 42 0 19 0 13 0 
			
			  Methadone   
			 Unlawful supply 36 0 20 0 19 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 31 0 9 0 8 0 
			
			  Other class A   
			 Unlawful supply 227 0 459 0 469 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 221 0 260 0 258 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of persons 
			   2003  2004 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (life)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (life) 
			  Cocaine 
			 Unlawful supply 734 0 723 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 1,071 0 1,194 0 
			  
			  Crack 
			 Unlawful supply 356 0 465 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 433 0 433 0 
			  
			  Heroin 
			 Unlawful supply 1,641 1 1,773 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 1,607 0 1,596 1 
			  
			  Ecstasy-type 
			 Unlawful supply 325 0 270 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 921 0 790 0 
			  
			  LSD 
			 Unlawful supply 5 0 0 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 14 0 21 0 
			  
			  Methadone 
			 Unlawful supply 19 0 25 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 15 0 9 0 
			  
			  Other class A 
			 Unlawful supply 605 0 614 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 289 0 281 0 
			 (1) As the same person may be found guilty of more than one offence, rows cannot be added together to produce totals. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: persons( 1)  (i) found guilty of drug supply offences and (ii) number given maximum sentence at crown court, class B drugs, by offence type4 and year, England and Wales—Class B drugs 
			  Number of persons 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years) 
			  Amphetamines   
			 Unlawful supply 396 0 161 0 154 1 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 706 0 405 0 404 0 
			
			  Cannabis( 2)   
			 Unlawful supply 1,541 0 990 0 957 1 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 3,093 0 2,121 0 2,030 0 
			
			  Other class B   
			 Unlawful supply 96 0 96 0 126 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 130 o 107 0 100 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of persons 
			   2003  2004 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years) 
			  Amphetamines 
			 Unlawful supply 161 0 143 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 431 0 494 0 
			  
			  Cannabis( 2) 
			 Unlawful supply 834 0 — — 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 2,143 0 — — 
			  
			  Other class B 
			 Unlawful supply 114 0 80 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 102 0 71 0 
			 (1) As the same person may be found guilty of more than one offence, rows cannot be added together to produce totals.(2) Cannabis was reclassified as a class C drug from January 2004. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: persons( 1)  (i) found guilty of drug supply offences and (ii) number given maximum sentence at crown court, class C drugs, by offence type and year, England and Wales—Class C drugs 
			  Number of persons 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years) 
			  Anabolic steroids   
			 Unlawful supply 0 0 3 0 2 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 0 0 1 0 5 0 
			
			  Cannabis( 2)   
			 Unlawful supply — — — — — — 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully — — — — — — 
			
			  GHB( 3)   
			 Unlawful supply — — — — — — 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully — — — — — — 
			
			  Other class C   
			 Unlawful supply 68 0 63 0 59 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 68 0 63 0 86 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of persons 
			   2003  2004 
			  Drug and offence type  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years)  Found guilty  Maximum sentence (14 years) 
			  Anabolic steroids 
			 Unlawful supply 5 0 4 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 3 0 6 0 
			  
			  Cannabis( 2) 
			 Unlawful supply — — 698 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully — — 1,804 0 
			  
			  GHB( 3) 
			 Unlawful supply 0 0 0 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 0 0 0 0 
			  
			  Other class C 
			 Unlawful supply 53 0 183 0 
			 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully 77 0 417 0 
			 (1) As the same person may be found guilty of more than one offence, rows cannot be added together to produce totals.(2) Cannabis was reclassified as a class C drug from January 2004.(3) GHB became controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in July 2003.

Government Social Research Service

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of the Government Social Research Service in his Department in each of the last five years; how many projects have been completed by the service in that period; and how many people are employed in the service in his Department.

Joan Ryan: Government Social Research Service researchers are employed across government departments and in the devolved administrations. Staff are employed by the Home Office rather than the GSR service and GSR members are employed in multi-disciplinary analytic teams across the Department. Therefore it is not possible to separately identify the projects undertaken by the GSR service in the Home Office or their associated costs.
	Records of the number of GSR members employed by the Home Office are not available for all the years requested. However the number of GSR members at the end of March 2004 and 2005 is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Members of the Government Social Research Service employed by the Home Office 
			   Number of GSR members 
			 2004 291 
			 2005 223

Home Detention Curfews

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Monmouth of 17 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1037W, on home detention curfew, how many offenders released on the Home Detention Curfew scheme did not have an electronic tag fitted at the second attempt; and how many of these  (a) were recalled to prison and  (b) absconded.

John Reid: The answer to the hon. Member for Monmouth stated that a total of 1,244 offenders released on home detention curfew between 1 April 2005 and 30 April 2006 did not have an electronic tag fitted on the day of release. We have now established that the number of offenders was over-stated and should have been given as 1,119. The previous, incorrect, figure arose because of errors in recording and reporting statistics by one of the electronic monitoring companies, G4S.
	As a result, the figure of 1,039 cases given in that answer where the tag was not fitted because the offender was not present or the monitoring company was refused access is also incorrect. We have re-calculated this figure using the latest figures from both monitoring companies. These take account of earlier recording and reporting errors, and also a re-classification by G4S of the reasons for not fitting the tag in each case. The figure should have been reduced to 708.
	My hon. Friend, Gerry Sutcliffe, has written to the hon. Member to apologise for these errors and has placed a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
	Of the corrected figure of 1,119 offenders, the monitoring companies' records show that a total of 141 did not have the tag fitted on the second attempt.
	We do not collate and record centrally the particular reason for a recall at the level of detail which allows identification of those recalled just for two unsuccessful attempts at fitting the tag. To track these cases through the system, and state definitively how many were recalled to prison for that reason, and how many of that specific sub-set remain unlawfully at large would require a manual check of each case file. This could not be done without disproportionate cost, and would necessitate removing caseworkers from the business of recalling offenders to carry out the work.
	The police are routinely notified of all offenders who are subject to recall, and are unlawfully at large.

Internet Pornography

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of accessing child pornography on the internet in (A) Southend, (B) Essex and (C) England and Wales in the last 12 months, broken down by age.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is not possible to identify from data collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, those prosecutions, or convictions which relate to accessing of child pornography on the internet as the data is not collected centrally.
	Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the number of  (a) males and  (b) females, broken down by age that have been (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of distribution, possession, etc of an indecent photograph in (A ) South East Essex Local Justice Area, (B) Essex and (C) England and Wales in 2004 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of persons prosecuted at magistrates courts, and found guilty at all courts for offences relation to indecent distribution, possession, etc of pictures of children, in South East Essex local justice area (LJA), Essex police force area, and England and Wales, 2004( 1,2) 
			   Offence description 
			   Take, permit to be taken, or to make distribute or publish indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children( 3)  Possession of an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph( 4) 
			   Male  Female  Male  Female 
			  Area/age group  Prosecuted  Guilty  Prosecuted  Guilty  Prosecuted  Guilty  Prosecuted  Guilty 
			  South East Essex LJA 
			 10 to 17 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 18 to 20 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 21 and over 9 4 (5)— (5)— 2 2 (5)— (5)— 
			  
			  Force Essex 
			 10 to 17 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 18 to 20 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 21 and over 38 38 5 7 -
			 Total 38 38 (5)— (5)— 5 7 (5)— (5)— 
			  
			  England and Wales 
			 10 to 17 19 14 (5)— (5)— 3 1 (5)— (5)— 
			 18 to 20 34 22 (5)— (5)— 4 3 (5)— (5)— 
			 21 and over 1,035 939 9 3 192 179 1 1 
			 Total 1,088 975 9 3 199 183 1 1 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(3) Statute: Protection of Children Act 1978 Section 1 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Sec 84 and Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.41(1).(4) Statute: Criminal Justice Act 1988 Sec. 160 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.(5) Nil. Source:RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

IT Contracts

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) projected cost at the time of tender and  (b) actual cost at the time of completion was for each IT contract commissioned by his Department in the last five years.

Liam Byrne: Please see the following tables.
	
		
			  Desktop services 
			  Business  IT Unit  Projected cost  (£ million)  Actual cost  Year 
			 IND HOITSS 200 Still ongoing 2004 
			 NOMS (Steria/OMNI) NOMS 250 Still ongoing 2006 
		
	
	 IT enabled change programmes
	The following table outlines those details that are centrally held in relation to major IT projects with a value over £10 million. The Home Office runs a number of smaller IT projects but details of these is not recorded or held centrally.
	
		
			  Business  Programme  Projected cost  (£ million)  Actual cost  Year 
			 IND Project Semaphore (part of e-Borders) 31.9 Still ongoing From 2004 to date. 
			  Project IRIS (part of e-Borders) 2.8 Still ongoing 2004 
			  Mycroft 42 Still ongoing From 2004 over five years 
			  Warnings Index (Support Contract) 14.5 Still ongoing May 2006 to 2014 
			  
			 CS EDRM 16.8 Still ongoing 2005-06

Leave to Remain

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women from  (a) India and  (b) Pakistan were granted permission to live in the UK with their UK-resident husbands in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 20 October 2006
	Statistics on women, who are nationals of India and Pakistan, granted settlement on the basis of marriage to a British citizen or a person already settled in the United Kingdom, 2001 to 2005, are given in the following table.
	Statistics on immigration control are published annually in Command Papers entitled "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom". These publications are available from the Library of the House and via the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	
		
			  Women granted settlement on the basis of marriage( 1)  to a British citizen or a person already settled in the United Kingdom, nationals of India and Pakistan, 2001 to 2005( 2) , United Kingdom 
			  Number of persons 
			   India  Pakistan 
			 2001 2,435 4,295 
			 2002 2,300 4,305 
			 2003 2,890 4,380 
			 2004 1,840 2,760 
			 2005(3) 1,680 1,565 
			 (1) Includes unmarried partners.  (2) Data from 2003 exclude dependants of EEA and Swiss nationals in confirmed relationships granted permanent residence.  (3) Provisional data subject to change.   Note:  Data rounded to the nearest 5.

Legislation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) Acts and  (b) parts of Acts received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and June 2006 for which his Department has policy responsibility; and which provisions within those Acts (i) have not yet come into force, (ii) have been replaced prior to coming into force and (iii) have been replaced after coming into force.

Tony McNulty: The provisions of the following Acts (which received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and June 2006) for which the Home Secretary has policy responsibility are fully in force:
	The Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997
	The Special Immigration Appeals Act 1997
	The Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1997
	The Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) (Amendment) Act 1998
	The Crime and Disorder Act 1998
	The Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999
	The Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999
	The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
	The Football Disorder Act 2000
	The Terrorism Act 2000
	The Mobile Telephones Reprogramming Act 2002
	The Football Disorder (Amendment) Act 2002
	The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
	The Sexual Offences Act 2003
	The Extradition Act 2003
	The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
	Terrorism Act 2006
	The following table lists provisions of Acts for which the Home Office has policy responsibility which received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and June 2006 which are not yet in force.
	Sections and provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 yet to come into force is provided in the table placed in the House Library.
	It is not possible to provide lists of provisions which have been replaced prior to coming into force or which have been replaced after coming into force without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Act  Sections not in force 
			 Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 85(5), Sch two (2) 
			 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 78 
			 Asylum and Immigration(Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 12, 16, 26 
			 Crime (International Co-Operation) Act 2003 10-12, 20-25, 32-36, 42-46, 54-75, Sch three, Sch 4 
			 Criminal Justice Act 2003 (1)— 
			 Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 59, 61, 71(5), Sch seven, Sch 8 
			 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 78(7), 80(2) and (4), Sch six para 21, Sch seven para 6 
			 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 1, 4, 9, 12-21, 48-53, 54(2)(c), 3(c) and (d), 55, 56, 57, Sch eight and 9 
			 Drugs Act 2005 2, four, six, 10, 11, 13, 14 
			 Identity Cards Act 2006 1(1)-(4), 1(5)-(8)*, 2-24, 27-29, 30*, 31-34, 35, 39, 41, 42*,43, Sch 1 
			 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 16 and 17, 32, 34-37, 117(5) 
			 Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 2, 4, 8-nine, 15-18, 20-22, 24-26, 31-39, 44, 47, 50-52, 58 
			 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 10(5), 17, 18-26, 27-34, 35(1) (a)-(g) and (2) and (3), 36, 37, 39, 40(2) and (3), 41(2) and (3), 44-47, 51 to 53, 124 
			 Police Reform Act 2002 20(4), 22(4), 45 
			 Private Security Industry Act 2001 17, 21 
			 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Sch 11 paras 17 and 21*, Sch 12* 
			 Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (2)— 
			 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 120, 114(9), 117(7), 142, 162(3) 165, 170, Sch four, Sch nine, Sch 14, Sch 10 
			 Terrorism Act 2006 (3)— 
			 Vehicle (Crimes) Act 2001 8, 34, 35, 36, Sch paras one and 2 
			 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 28, 44, 45, 48-52, 61(2), Sch 2, Sch 4 
			 (1) See separate table placed in the Library of the House  (2) No provisions in force (3) All provisions have been implemented

Motoring Offences

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were  (a) convicted of motoring offences, including those resulting from automatic cameras, and  (b) issued with parking fines in each police authority area in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Data for 2004 (latest available) are given in the following table. Information on fixed penalty notices is available by calendar year only.
	2005 data will be available early in 2007.
	Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) powers allow local authorities to take over responsibility for enforcing parking contraventions from police. Data on penalty charge notices (PCNs) from individual local authorities operating decriminalised parking enforcements can be found in the annual Home Office publication 'Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, supplementary tables'. The latest publication 2004 [Table 22(a)—22(b) refers] lists data by local authorities partaking in the scheme, a copy of which is available in the Library. This publication can also be accessed on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics (RDS) website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm
	
		
			  Table C: Fixed penalty notices( 1)  issued( 2 ) for breaches of obstruction, waiting and parking regulations( 3) , by police force area, England and Wales, 2004 
			  Police force area  Number of notices( 1,2,3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 14,211 
			 Bedfordshire 814 
			 Cambridgeshire 9,680 
			 Cheshire 14,842 
			 Cleveland 4,598 
			 Cumbria 558 
			 Derbyshire 13,250 
			 Devon & Cornwall 53,325 
			 Dorset 371 
			 Durham 1,925 
			 Essex 8,204 
			 Gloucestershire 21,889 
			 Greater Manchester 21,646 
			 Hampshire 13,792 
			 Hertfordshire 6,496 
			 Humberside 27,068 
			 Kent 953 
			 Lancashire 17,717 
			 Leicestershire 20,357 
			 Lincolnshire 18,201 
			 London, City of 188 
			 Merseyside 13,648 
			 Metropolitan Police 162,463 
			 Norfolk 8,109 
			 Northamptonshire 2,197 
			 Northumbria 42,426 
			 North Yorkshire 7,031 
			 Nottinghamshire 7,676 
			 South Yorkshire 18,873 
			 Staffordshire 9,348 
			 Suffolk 20,119 
			 Surrey 9,717 
			 Sussex 48,178 
			 Thames Valley 22,121 
			 Warwickshire 13,037 
			 West Mercia 9,198 
			 West Midlands 46,138 
			 West Yorkshire 55,016 
			 Wiltshire 2,388 
			 Dyfed-Powys 9,482 
			 Gwent 17,316 
			 North Wales 8,729 
			 South Wales 79,205 
			 England and Wales 882,500 
			 (1 )Paid i.e. no further action.  (2 )Issued by police (including traffic wardens).  (3 )Offences under relevant sections of the Road Traffic Act 1988; Transport Act 2000; Highway Act 1835; Highways Act 1980;Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984; Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986; Transport Act 2000 Part III and the Metropolitan Police Act 1839.   Note:  Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Motoring Offences

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motoring offences were dealt with by police in Cambridgeshire in each year since 1993, broken down by offence.

Vernon Coaker: Information by motoring offence groups from 1993 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the table.
	Data for 2005 will be available early in 2007.
	
		
			  Motoring offences dealt with by official police action( 1, 2) , within Cambridgeshire police force area, 1993 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			  Offence group  Offence type  1993( 2)  1994( 2)  1995( 2)  1996( 2)  1997( 2)  1998 
			 1 Causing death or bodily harm 7 12 9 12 8 9 
			 2 Dangerous driving 107 70 95 62 96 143 
			 3 Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs 975 890 946 951 1,092 1,145 
			 4 Careless driving 987 1,019 1,099 878 1,051 1,133 
			 5 Accident offences 266 186 229 151 231 395 
			 6 Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle 570 454 508 514 420 653 
			 7 Driving licence related offences 2,611 2,210 1,928 1,805 2,172 3,331 
			 9 Vehicle insurance offences 3,825 3,190 2,793 2,700 3,116 4,996 
			 10 Vehicle registration and excise licence offences 3,352 3,616 2,148 1,697 1,495 720 
			 11 Work record and employment offences 140 200 125 132 99 91 
			 12 Operator's licence offences 41 41 18 25 25 27 
			 13 Vehicle test offences 2,394 1,875 1,621 1,382 1,544 2,387 
			 14 Fraud, forgery etc., associated with vehicle or driver records 208 215 232 133 231 184 
			 15 Vehicle or part in dangerous condition 551 631 622 525 612 635 
			 16 Speed limit offences 1,623 6,726 8,580 12,871 19,810 17,132 
			 17 Motorway offences (other than speeding) 306 231 80 56 121 74 
			 18 Neglect of traffic directions 2,168 3,613 3,834 3,571 2,544 2,018 
			 19 Neglect of pedestrian rights 112 270 203 193 252 230 
			 20 Obstruction, waiting and parking offences 35,050 33,011 29,780 29,028 32,716 29,115 
			 21 Lighting offences 382 326 561 272 310 453 
			 22 Noise offences 53 54 45 34 44 39 
			 23 Load offence 215 151 173 157 121 87 
			 24 Offences peculiar to motor cycles 47 48 38 38 52 53 
			 25 Miscellaneous motoring offences 3,538 2,927 2,918 2,794 3,435 3,584 
			  Total all offences 59,528 61,966 58,585 59,981 71,597 68,634 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of offences 
			  Offence group  Offence type  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 1 Causing death or bodily harm 8 16 12 10 10 17 
			 2 Dangerous driving 148 114 148 150 151 120 
			 3 Driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs 1,022 882 880 928 1,019 1,159 
			 4 Careless driving 1,064 1,127 915 688 733 663 
			 5 Accident offences 292 295 256 235 299 289 
			 6 Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle 620 497 377 529 579 422 
			 7 Driving licence related offences 3,079 3,108 2,721 3,032 3,533 3,688 
			 9 Vehicle insurance offences 4,351 4,158 3,528 4,186 4,802 4,534 
			 10 Vehicle registration and excise licence offences 283 118 149 148 220 875 
			 11 Work record and employment offences 178 146 89 245 19 35 
			 12 Operator's licence offences 16 18 24 15 4 5 
			 13 Vehicle test offences 1,863 2,131 2,373 2,874 3,154 2,859 
			 14 Fraud, forgery etc., associated with vehicle or driver records 157 103 87 122 74 74 
			 15 Vehicle or part in dangerous condition 508 396 272 283 303 275 
			 16 Speed limit offences 17,396 10,402 7,583 15,998 29,817 21,930 
			 17 Motorway offences (other than speeding) 157 65 36 14 21 22 
			 18 Neglect of traffic directions 1,917 1,693 2,087 1,832 1,797 2,712 
			 19 Neglect of pedestrian rights 172 122 147 129 111 81 
			 20 Obstruction, waiting and parking offences 30,600 32,875 33,498 32,451 22,648 9,891 
			 21 Lighting offences 363 283 232 257 207 317 
			 22 Noise offences 51 37 21 36 25 32 
			 23 Load offence 226 194 51 75 46 64 
			 24 Offences peculiar to motor cycles 40 53 50 46 30 48 
			 25 Miscellaneous motoring offences 300,519 2,268 1,805 1,585 2,389 2,963 
			  Total all offences 365,030 61,101 57,341 65,868 71,991 53,075 
			 (1) Consists of court proceedings, written warnings, fixed penalties and vehicle defect rectification scheme notices complied with.  (2) Findings of guilt at all courts data substituted for court proceedings in the tables from 1993 to 1997 as court proceedings data not available.   Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts' case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Home Office publication "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary tables".

Operation Oystercatcher

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) objectives and  (b) results were of Operation Oystercatcher.

Tony McNulty: Exercise Oyster Catcher was a routine exercise involving a number of the emergency services. The objective was to test the response to a major terrorist incident in Wales. The results of the exercise will be fed into classified contingency plans for responding to a wide range of emergencies. It is important that these plans are regularly tested, reviewed and updated but it is not in the national interest to comment on the detail of those plans or the exercise itself.

Operation Oystercatcher

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the cost was of Operation Oystercatcher;
	(2)  what additional resources he has made available to  (a) Dyfed Powys police,  (b) Pembrokeshire county council,  (c) Mid and West Wales Fire Authority and  (d) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to meet costs incurred by Operation Oystercatcher;
	(3)  what expenditure was incurred by  (a) Dyfed Powys police,  (b) Pembrokeshire county council,  (c) Mid and West Wales Fire Authority and  (d) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in respect of Operation Oystercatcher.

Tony McNulty: Exercise Oyster Catcher was a classified government exercise to test the response to a major terrorist incident. It is not normal practice to disclose the level of funding allocated to specific counter-terrorist measures.
	The agencies referred to are all category one responders within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and as such have civil protection duties to produce plans to deal with a wide range of emergencies. Exercises are an important element in ensuring that those plans are fit for purpose and are jointly funded as part of existing major incident planning. The Home Office makes a contribution to the costs incurred by the police force which hosts the exercise. Other costs are met by the individual agencies as part of their duties as category one responders.

Parliamentary Questions

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to provide substantive answers to questions  (a) 68948,  (b) 68802,  (c) 68947,  (d) 68950,  (e) 68795,  (f) 68887 and  (g) 68801, tabled on 3 May by the hon. Member for Woking.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 25 May 2006
	I replied to the hon. Member as follows:
	 (a) 23 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1684W;
	 (b) 5 September 2006,  Official Report, column 2230W;
	 (c) 29 June 2006,  Official Report, column 635W;
	 (f) 22 June 2006,  Official Report, column 2126W;
	 (g) 29 June 2006,  Official Report, column 634W.
	My right hon. Friend the member for Gedling (Mr. Coaker) replied to
	 (d) 23 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1027W.
	My right hon. Friend the member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) replied to
	 (e) 14 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1306W.

Parliamentary Questions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer question 71762 tabled by the hon. Member for Eastleigh on 16 May 2006; and if he will make a statement on the Department's policy on the time taken to answer questions.

Tony McNulty: The hon. Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill replied to the question on the 18 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1291W.
	The Home Secretary has instructed both the Permanent Secretary and I to review the current PQ delivery mechanisms. In addition to this, he has identified the Department's obligations to Parliament as one of the performance measures that should result from his plan to reform the Home Office. The improvements will not happen overnight but I am reassured that considerable effort has occurred throughout the summer recess to reduce the backlog of unanswered questions. This work remains ongoing although I am pleased to reassure you that for the months of July, August and September the Department answered 1245 questions with approximately 70 per cent. answered within agreed timescales.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the arrangements are for the payment of pensions to people who retire early through ill-health for each pension scheme for which his Department is responsible; what the incidence of ill-health retirement was as a percentage of all retirement for such schemes for each year since 1988-89; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the current rate of ill-health retirement is for each public sector pension scheme for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: A police authority may medically retire an officer if he or she is assessed by a medical practitioner selected by the authority to be permanently disabled for the ordinary duties of a member of the force. An officer who is a contributing member of either the Police Pension Scheme 1987 or the Police Pension Scheme 2006 and who has two years' qualifying service at the time of retirement will receive an ill-health pension which is index-linked and payable immediately. The ill-health pension under the Police Pension Scheme 1987, to which most officers belong, is based on the pension rights the officer has accrued up to retirement, but where the officer has at least five years' pensionable service the pension will be enhanced to compensate at least in part for the additional service he or she was unable to go on to complete.
	The Police Pension Scheme 2006, which applies to those who have joined the police service on or after 6 April this year, provides two levels of ill-health pension: a standard ill-health pension which is not enhanced and is payable to those who are permanently disabled for the ordinary duties of a member of the force but who can undertake other regular employment, and an enhanced top-up pension, which is payable in addition to the standard pension where the officer is also assessed as permanently disabled for all regular employment.
	Information about the rate of ill-health retirement for police officers is not available in the form requested for all the years that the hon. Member has asked for. A table follows with information from 1990-91 to 2004-05. From 2001-02 the rate of ill-health retirement has not been recorded as a percentage of the number of retirements but as a proportion of the number of officers in service, expressed in terms of ill-health retirements per 1,000 officers. This is a more stable measure since the number of ordinary retirements is liable to change from year to year. The figures show a very clear downward trend which started in the mid 1990s but which has been given added impetus following the Police Negotiating Board Agreement of 2002 which resulted in the issue of joint guidance to forces in 2003 on the better management of ill-health. The effective management of ill-health continues to be a priority for the police service. Improvements in sickness management and rehabilitation and better incentives for making appropriate use of ill health retirement (e.g. by introducing more than one tier of ill-health benefits) have been a key part of public service reform.
	
		
			  Police Officer Medical Retirements 
			   Percentage of medical retirements of all retirements  Number of medical retirements per 1,000 officers in service 
			 1990-91 62 — 
			 1991-92 62 — 
			 1992-93 60 — 
			 1993-94 53 — 
			 1994-95 53 — 
			 1995-96 46 — 
			 1996-97 45 — 
			 1997-98 38 — 
			 1998-99 39 — 
			 1999-2000 31 — 
			 2000-01 31 9.8 
			 2001-02 — 8.8 
			 2002-03 — 6.2 
			 2003-04 — 3 
			 2004-05 — 3 
			  Notes:1. This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number.2. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what savings estimate he has made of the effect on costs of the reforms to public sector pensions agreed with trades unions in 2005 for each year between 2006-07 and 2050-51; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Timms) on 31 October 2006,  Official Report, column 317W.

Police

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Derbyshire  (a) retired and  (b) took ill-health retirement in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The available data is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Police officer retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Derbyshire police force from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 3) 
			   Retirements 
			 2001-02 54 
			 2002-03(4) 55 
			 2003-04 52 
			 2004-05 73 
			 2005-06 96 
			 (1) Retirements include all medical retirements and ordinary retirements.(2) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number.(3) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive.(4) In 2002-03 leaving figures were not available for Quarter 1 (April to June 2002 inclusive). 
		
	
	
		
			  Police officer medical retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Derbyshire police force from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 3) 
			   Medical Retirements 
			 2001-02 9 
			 2002-03 12 
			 2003-04 2 
			 2004-05 9 
			 2005-06(4) n/a 
			 (1) Data collated on behalf of and published by HMIC.(2) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearfest whole number.(3) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive.(4) Data not available. Data for 2005-06 has been collated but not yet been validated. Figures will be available in the HMIC Annual Report 2005-06 due for publication by March 2007.

Police

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cautions were issued in the Cambridgeshire constabulary area for  (a) violence against the person,  (b) theft and handling stolen goods,  (c) sexual offences,  (d) criminal damage,  (e) robbery and  (f) fraud and forgery in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 20 October 2006
	Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the number of cautions, issued for  (a) violence against the person,  (b) theft and handling stolen goods,  (c) sexual offences,  (d) criminal damage,  (e) robbery and  (f) fraud and forgery in Cambridgeshire police force area, 2000 to 2004 can be found in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in November 2006.
	
		
			  Persons cautioned for various offence types, in Cambridgeshire police force area, 2000 to 2004( 1, 2) 
			  Number 
			  Offence type  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 Violence against the person 230 221 242 379 560 
			 Sexual offences 17 25 20 20 24 
			 Burglary 70 95 83 74 86 
			 Robbery 5 4 2 1 8 
			 Theft and handling stolen goods 748 593 635 613 766 
			 Fraud and forgery 57 53 57 70 57 
			 Criminal damage 21 18 6 13 13 
			 Drug offences 461 448 422 353 321 
			 Other indictable offences 52 47 58 50 87 
			 Summary offences (excluding motoring) 647 703 589 490 696 
			 Total 2,308 2,207 2,114 2,063 2,618 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source: RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Police

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police officers,  (b) special constables,  (c) police community support officers and  (d) support staff are employed in each police force in England and Wales; and what the equivalent figures were in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Police officer strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  by police force as at  31 March 1996 to 31 March 2006 
			   As at 31 March each year 
			  Police force  1996  1997( 3)  1998  1999  2000  2001( 4) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,981 2,989 2,976 2,999 2,934 2,994 
			 Bedfordshire 1,128 1,094 1,079 1,041 1,028 1,036 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,238 1,302 1,291 1,274 1,237 1,296 
			 Cheshire 1,998 2,046 2,042 2,071 2,011 2,002 
			 Cleveland 1,420 1,459 1,483 1,416 1,404 1,407 
			 Cumbria 1,115 1,144 1,164 1,126 1,084 1,048 
			 Derbyshire 1,763 1,791 1,772 1,759 1,777 1,823 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,899 2,865 2,962 2,887 2,841 2,934 
			 Dorset 1,263 1,284 1,310 1,279 1,306 1,354 
			 Durham 1,401 1,461 1,515 1,568 1,558 1,595 
			 Essex 2,884 2,961 2,928 2,891 2,806 2,897 
			 Gloucestershire 1,133 1,133 1,104 1,104 1,114 1,173 
			 Greater Manchester 6,938 6,922 6,949 6,810 6,795 6,909 
			 Hampshire 3,347 3,452 3,490 3,473 3,419 3,438 
			 Hertfordshire 1,712 1,759 1,740 1,724 1,767 1,922 
			 Humberside 2,041 2,045 2,021 1,974 1,932 1,917 
			 Kent 3,120 3,260 3,251 3,201 3,204 3,319 
			 Lancashire 3,171 3,248 3,257 3,245 3,179 3,255 
			 Leicestershire 1,908 1,949 1,983 1,993 1,993 2,032 
			 Lincolnshire 1,145 1,196 1,191 1,140 1,115 1,202 
			 London, City of 869 859 825 778 732 703 
			 Merseyside 4,411 4,230 4,216 4,211 4,085 4,081 
			 Metropolitan Police 27,343 26,677 26,094 26,073 25,485 24,878 
			 Norfolk 1,401 1,432 1,430 1,381 1,381 1,420 
			 Northamptonshire 1,153 1,177 1,169 1,137 1,117 1,305 
			 Northumbria 3,668 3,677 3,769 3,840 3,788 1,157 
			 North Yorkshire 1,324 1,338 1,367 1,337 1,283 3,857 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,318 2,323 2,323 2,225 2,204 2,275 
			 South Yorkshire 3,073 3,159 3,182 3,168 3,163 3,197 
			 Staffordshire 2,209 2,211 2,292 2,238 2,170 2,129 
			 Suffolk 1,138 1,174 1,186 1,190 1,145 1,133 
			 Surrey 1,644 1,620 1,608 1,662 1,785 2,066 
			 Sussex 3,074 3,085 2,996 2,847 2,822 2,855 
			 Thames Valley 3,674 3,695 3,776 3,748 3,740 3,703 
			 Warwickshire 979 926 924 908 900 926 
			 West Mercia 2,017 2,040 2,010 2,025 1,887 1,951 
			 West Midlands 7,145 7,113 7,156 7,321 7,194 7,423 
			 West Yorkshire 5,142 5,209 5,155 4,982 4,822 4,815 
			 Wiltshire 1,219 1,154 1,156 1,151 1,118 1,120 
			 Dyfed-Powys 991 1,005 1,002 1,026 1,040 1,055 
			 Gwent 1,044 1,243 1,233 1,247 1,264 1,274 
			 North Wales 1,378 1,369 1,396 1,391 1,403 1,444 
			 South Wales 3,027 2,976 2,986 2,981 2,926 3,154 
			 Total England and Wales 124,844 125,051 124,756 123,841 121,956 123,476 
		
	
	
		
			   As at 31 March each year 
			  Police force  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 3,096 3,149 3,401 3,384 3,389 
			 Bedfordshire 1,069 1,106 1,181 1,215 1,198 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,362 1,384 1,400 1,402 1,430 
			 Cheshire 2,059 2,119 2,177 2,186 2,174 
			 Cleveland 1,461 1,582 1,687 1,676 1,677 
			 Cumbria 1,100 1,140 1,222 1,232 1,230 
			 Derbyshire 1,848 2,003 2,070 2,070 2,046 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3,053 3,202 3,283 3,369 3,493 
			 Dorset 1,381 1,416 1,433 1,450 1,485 
			 Durham 1,614 1,651 1,685 1,718 1,699 
			 Essex 2,946 2,989 3,098 3,190 3,279 
			 Gloucestershire 1,183 1,227 1,284 1,291 1,289 
			 Greater Manchester 7,217 7,343 8,042 8,041 7,959 
			 Hampshire 3,480 3,668 3,706 3,725 3,707 
			 Hertfordshire 1,825 1,957 2,086 2,104 2,126 
			 Humberside 2,058 2,105 2,213 2,230 2,224 
			 Kent 3,355 3,487 3,576 3,586 3,599 
			 Lancashire 3,304 3,339 3,550 3,551 3,583 
			 Leicestershire 2,100 2,114 2,277 2,283 2,250 
			 Lincolnshire 1,198 1,221 1,228 1,221 1,213 
			 London, City of 764 808 853 876 869 
			 Merseyside 4,125 4,099 4,122 4,317 4,269 
			 Metropolitan Police 26,223 27,984 29,735 30,710 30,536 
			 Norfolk 1,468 1,499 1,510 1,544 1,557 
			 Northamptonshire 1,214 1,210 1,239 1,267 1,317 
			 Northumbria 3,929 3,943 4,040 4,048 3,983 
			 North Yorkshire 1,417 1,444 1,529 1,543 1,636 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,330 2,411 2,484 2,502 2,477 
			 South Yorkshire 3,199 3,183 3,279 3,265 3,255 
			 Staffordshire 2,133 2,202 2,266 2,280 2,272 
			 Suffolk 1,203 1,253 1,304 1,313 1,300 
			 Surrey 1,992 1,906 1,913 1,915 1,922 
			 Sussex 2,893 2,989 3,039 3,044 3,092 
			 Thames Valley 3,762 3,833 4,034 4,114 4,229 
			 Warwickshire 969 997 1,008 1,011 1,032 
			 West Mercia 2,018 2,256 2,355 2,367 2,351 
			 West Midlands 7,681 7,751 7,887 8,056 8,097 
			 West Yorkshire 4,889 5,029 5,275 5,631 5,644 
			 Wiltshire 1,157 1,158 1,217 1,222 1,219 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1,132 1,149 1,160 1,174 1,182 
			 Gwent 1,333 1,341 1,372 1,438 1,467 
			 North Wales 1,506 1,539 1,603 1,652 1,617 
			 South Wales 3,222 3,239 3,279 3,281 3,263 
			 Total England and Wales 127,267 131,426 137,105 139,495 139,633 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.  (2 )Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.  (3) Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police.  (4) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces. 
		
	
	
		
			  Special constable strength( 1 ) by police force as at 31 March 1996 to 31 March 2006 
			   As at 31 March 
			   1996  1997( 2)  1998  1999  2000  2001( 3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 688 759 621 547 459 400 
			 Bedfordshire 189 182 186 154 151 115 
			 Cambridgeshire 275 303 320 310 274 218 
			 Cheshire 274 475 459 407 350 290 
			 Cleveland 195 160 164 126 128 93 
			 Cumbria 201 189 198 204 176 156 
			 Derbyshire 413 428 380 317 282 275 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,102 1,148 1,024 918 870 804 
			 Dorset 254 289 315 305 298 267 1 
			 Durham 187 184 144 159 157 46 
			 Essex 608 634 638 544 483 445 
			 Gloucestershire 330 297 276 233 206 183 
			 Greater Manchester 746 685 598 523 457 367 
			 Hampshire 564 621 698 760 615 462 
			 Hertfordshire 315 297 306 238 216 198 
			 Humberside 391 340 324 269 246 212 
			 Kent 555 589 592 526 436 392 
			 Lancashire 553 483 489 449 382 360 
			 Leicestershire 360 415 406 316 247 162 
			 Lincolnshire 299 271 260 216 195 166 
			 London, City of 77 86 76 64 56 43 
			 Merseyside 333 401 419 458 476 541 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,850 1,714 1,282 1,138 758 774 
			 Norfolk 319 402 337 336 285 259 
			 Northamptonshire 289 316 288 230 199 188 
			 Northumbria 471 533 400 342 332 300 
			 North Yorkshire 360 362 358 276 217 182 
			 Nottinghamshire 537 620 558 461 411 335 
			 South Yorkshire 381 308 281 246 205 188 
			 Staffordshire 702 685 595 468 482 402 
			 Suffolk 407 379 397 420 391 349 
			 Surrey 260 297 235 224 175 149 
			 Sussex 511 472 442 393 352 306 
			 Thames Valley 744 656 609 569 472 418 
			 Warwickshire 340 381 345 261 260 221 
			 West Mercia 613 582 512 515 476 399 
			 West Midlands 897 945 889 731 680 617 
			 West Yorkshire 709 690 589 559 484 415 
			 Wiltshire 233 154 149 184 173 152 
			 Dyfed-Powys 314 283 254 237 202 191 
			 Gwent 136 157 119 113 119 137 
			 North Wales 332 341 358 400 247 207 
			 South Wales 461 361 366 338 267 254 
			 Total England and Wales 19,775 19,874 18,256 16,484 14,347 12,738 
		
	
	
		
			   As at 31 March 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 364 345 305 396 408 
			 Bedfordshire 118 98 146 209 181 
			 Cambridgeshire 207 189 193 199 185 
			 Cheshire 191 161 173 192 225 
			 Cleveland 85 102 85 66 138 
			 Cumbria 102 94 77 126 152 
			 Derbyshire 260 249 301 369 429 
			 Devon and Cornwall 689 645 602 582 572 
			 Dorset 253 214 210 230 264 
			 Durham 134 94 81 91 109 
			 Essex 381 371 349 363 439 
			 Gloucestershire 154 157 155 146 157 
			 Greater Manchester 338 340 345 380 424 
			 Hampshire 444 373 346 369 388 
			 Hertfordshire 206 193 206 226 232 
			 Humberside 207 157 209 328 330 
			 Kent 327 286 341 338 306 
			 Lancashire 363 351 336 319 366 
			 Leicestershire 143 149 159 181 168 
			 Lincolnshire 155 139 156 179 166 
			 London, City of 36 42 54 52 70 
			 Merseyside 468 503 371 259 345 
			 Metropolitan Police 680 692 742 697 1,221 
			 Norfolk 244 239 241 253 262 
			 Northamptonshire 177 189 197 242 237 
			 Northumbria 256 221 169 240 198 
			 North Yorkshire 185 177 160 173 189 
			 Nottinghamshire 341 261 295 333 361 
			 South Yorkshire 206 204 200 204 270 
			 Staffordshire 384 391 376 409 406 
			 Suffolk 308 275 266 267 293 
			 Surrey 187 212 255 289 280 
			 Sussex 306 303 181 200 197 
			 Thames Valley 356 369 341 375 327 
			 Warwickshire 209 190 169 190 211 
			 West Mercia 339 309 280 263 284 
			 West Midlands 598 637 715 959 1,021 
			 West Yorkshire 349 374 403 417 440 
			 Wiltshire 147 154 169 174 180 
			 Dyfed-Powys 157 152 151 167 194 
			 Gwent 142 130 136 144 137 
			 North Wales 125 133 124 124 136 
			 South Wales 277 173 218 198 281 
			 Total England and Wales 11,598 11,037 10,988 11,918 13,179 
			 (1) Total strength is based on headcount figures. (2 )Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police.  (3) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces. 
		
	
	
		
			  Police community support officer strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  by police force  as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2006( 3) 
			   As at 31 March each year 
			 Police force 2003 2004 2005(4) 2006(4) 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 45 139 130 
			 Bedfordshire 0 12 40 41 
			 Cambridgeshire 6 57 86 101 
			 Cheshire 2 50 52 75 
			 Cleveland 37 77 75 100 
			 Cumbria 0 0 17 17 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 43 42 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 51 74 74 
			 Dorset 6 8 47 61 
			 Durham 10 28 69 67 
			 Essex 10 86 179 192 
			 Gloucestershire 0 54 72 72 
			 Greater Manchester 160 173 269 251 
			 Hampshire 0 0 26 30 
			 Hertfordshire 14 46 98 139 
			 Humberside 0 0 20 20 
			 Kent 0 59 105 97 
			 Lancashire 77 110 161 184 
			 Leicestershire 28 41 103 136 
			 Lincolnshire 29 38 75 78 
			 London, City of 0 0 14 11 
			 Merseyside 40 72 170 196 
			 Metropolitan Police 513 1,463 2,147 2,315 
			 Norfolk 12 33 68 65 
			 Northamptonshire 12 10 37 40 
			 Northumbria 0 51 126 129 
			 North Yorkshire 0 52 75 71 
			 Nottinghamshire 10 56 108 112 
			 South Yorkshire 14 59 124 121 
			 Staffordshire 0 7 63 70 
			 Suffolk 0 15 34 30 
			 Surrey 21 56 115 126 
			 Sussex 22 83 228 257 
			 Thames Valley 0 7 98 130 
			 Warwickshire 11 25 56 64 
			 West Mercia 8 57 81 85 
			 West Midlands 0 39 219 252 
			 West Yorkshire 70 265 394 462 
			 Wiltshire 15 23 41 57 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 5 25 26 
			 Gwent 30 45 77 76 
			 North Wales 0 0 59 58 
			 South Wales 0 59 107 111 
			 Total England and Wales 1,176 3,418 6,214 6,769 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items  (2 )Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.  (3 )Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data is not available prior to 2002-03.  (4 )Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table. 
		
	
	
		
			  Police staff strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  by police force  as at 31 March 1996 to 31 March 2006 
			   As at 31 March 
			  Police force  1996  1997( 3)  1998  1999( 4)  2000  2001( 5) 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,213 1,438 1,393 1,424 1,436 1,452 
			 Bedfordshire 472 484 523 483 490 491 
			 Cambridgeshire 530 607 574 586 503 614 
			 Cheshire 690 735 781 785 823 833 
			 Cleveland 553 609 586 552 595 586 
			 Cumbria 408 451 451 442 469 588 
			 Derbyshire 656 723 787 818 826 875 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,121 1,159 1,186 1,215 1,343 1,453 
			 Dorset 621 615 651 702 686 682 
			 Durham 531 583 557 559 590 566 
			 Essex 1,130 1,199 1,252 1,273 1,348 1,447 
			 Gloucestershire 415 435 423 504 484 506 
			 Greater Manchester 2,749 2,612 2,661 2,623 2,822 2,858 
			 Hampshire 1,323 1,316 1,331 1,381 1,443 1,482 
			 Hertfordshire 754 818 831 835 890 935 
			 Humberside 683 718 789 840 840 808 
			 Kent 1,141 1,384 1,470 1,582 1,647 1,796 
			 Lancashire 1 ,349 1,126 1,143 1,198 1,422 1,369 
			 Leicestershire 667 755 774 802 805 806 
			 Lincolnshire 442 521 541 517 516 561 
			 London, City of 324 347 334 314 285 233 
			 Merseyside 1,560 1,343 1,502 1,356 1,458 1,418 
			 Metropolitan Police 14,372 13,493 12,432 11,257 10,605 10,040 
			 Norfolk 529 603 646 648 655 694 
			 Northamptonshire 511 554 577 587 599 694 
			 Northumbria 1,319 1,365 1,362 1,443 1,417 1,416 
			 North Yorkshire 520 519 543 541 492 591 
			 Nottinghamshire 979 1,003 987 1,039 1,024 1,039 
			 South Yorkshire 1,418 1,291 1,243 1,273 1,391 1,312 
			 Staffordshire 754 763 866 1,004 858 935 
			 Suffolk 485 522 583 594 600 621 
			 Surrey 754 727 743 733 762 897 
			 Sussex 1,131 1,149 1,185 1,393 1,328 1,454 
			 Thames Valley 1,738 1,825 1,827 1,799 1,786 1,891 
			 Warwickshire 376 376 398 406 394 412 
			 West Mercia 964 942 975 975 1,043 1,095 
			 West Midlands 2,780 2,739 2,817 2,652 2,695 2,819 
			 West Yorkshire 2,037 2,234 2,304 2,216 2,199 2,228 
			 Wiltshire 453 475 519 555 563 622 
			 Dyfed-Powys 310 322 341 341 359 401 
			 Gwent 378 452 477 487 498 537 
			 North Wales 512 476 479 508 519 498 
			 South Wales 1,287 1,206 1,132 1,223 1,081 1,270 
			 NCS — — — 275 352 367 
			 NCIS(7) — — — 291 287 398 
			 Total England and Wales 52,933 53,011 52,975 53,031 53,227 54,588 
		
	
	
		
			   As at 31 March 
			  Police force  2002  2003( 6)  2004( 6)  2005( 6)  2006( 6) 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,611 1,785 2,004 2,005 2,080 
			 Bedfordshire 524 595 668 713 759 
			 Cambridgeshire 733 786 838 832 898 
			 Cheshire 884 1,008 1,149 1,137 1,170 
			 Cleveland 626 694 764 748 697 
			 Cumbria 631 676 705 730 732 
			 Derbyshire 953 1,061 1,131 1,165 1,109 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,639 1,834 1,926 2,034 2,082 
			 Dorset 741 793 823 881 918 
			 Durham 660 602 600 736 733 
			 Essex 1,571 1,682 1,876 1,968 1,968 
			 Gloucestershire 545 590 642 663 694 
			 Greater Manchester 3,135 3,173 3,452 3,303 3,352 
			 Hampshire 1,597 1,720 1,865 1,965 2,099 
			 Hertfordshire 1,121 1,299 1,408 1,414 1,489 
			 Humberside 816 880 979 1,034 1,097 
			 Kent 1,958 2,095 2,267 2,228 2,292 
			 Lancashire 1,442 1,489 1,683 1,715 1,764 
			 Leicestershire 816 934 1,007 1,033 1,079 
			 Lincolnshire 600 641 657 678 677 
			 London, City of 247 268 285 298 314 
			 Merseyside 1,532 1,752 1,855 2,126 2,207 
			 Metropolitan Police 10,459 11,358 12,595 13,561 13,836 
			 Norfolk 819 924 973 984 1,064 
			 Northamptonshire 742 812 874 973 1,010 
			 Northumbria 1,403 1,457 1,495 1,491 1,665 
			 North Yorkshire 743 723 864 928 1,039 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,087 1,180 1,285 1,318 1,385 
			 South Yorkshire 1,352 1,510 1,583 1,729 1,853 
			 Staffordshire 1,030 1,146 1,255 1,325 1,305 
			 Suffolk 692 713 789 813 853 
			 Surrey 1,043 1,245 1,352 1,472 1,541 
			 Sussex 1,507 1,578 1,811 1,950 1,994 
			 Thames Valley 2,061 2,412 2,620 2,611 2,782 
			 Warwickshire 459 503 525 590 609 
			 West Mercia 1,116 1,233 1,391 1,492 1,563 
			 West Midlands 3,007 3,012 3,100 3,143 3,300 
			 West Yorkshire 2,364 2,538 2,776 3,016 3,183 
			 Wiltshire 649 703 764 811 851 
			 Dyfed-Powys 459 502 523 531 566 
			 Gwent 570 607 629 688 749 
			 North Wales 645 703 849 867 882 
			 South Wales 1,435 1,366 1,453 1,510 1,543 
			 NCS 405 524 603 0 779 
			 NCIS(7) 482 — — 0 1 
			 Total England and Wales 58,909 63,105 68,693 71,209 74,563 
			 (1) Civilian staff have been referred to as police staff since March 2003. Figures exclude traffic wardens, police community support officers and designated officers (s.38)  (2) Total strength is based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number, because of rounding there may be an apparent discrepancy between these totals and the totals in other tables. Figures exclude those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity unless otherwise stated.  (3 )Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police.  (4 )The National Crime Intelligence Service (NCIS) and the National Crime Squad (NCS) were established and set up as independent bodies by the Police Act 1997 effective as of 1 April 1998.  (5 )Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces.  (6 )Strength figures as at 31 March 2003 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table.  (7 )NCIS were unable to provide figures as at 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004.

Police

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Durham  (a) retired and  (b) took ill health retirement in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the following tables:
	
		
			  Police Officer Retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Durham Police Force from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 3) 
			   Number 
			 2001-02 51 
			 2002-03(4) 10 
			 2003-04 39 
			 2004-05 46 
			 2005-06 50 
			 (1) Retirements include all medical retirements and ordinary retirements.  (2) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number.  (3) Financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March inclusive.  (4) In 2002-03 leaving figures were not available for Q1, Q2 and Q3 (April to December 2002 inclusive). 
		
	
	
		
			  Police Officer Medical Retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Durham Police Force from 2001/02 to 2005/06( 3) 
			   Number 
			 2001-02 15 
			 2002-03 11 
			 2003-04 6 
			 2004-05 7 
			 2005-06(4) n/a 
			 (1) Data collated on behalf of and published by HMIC.  (2) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (3) Financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March inclusive.  (4) Data not available. Data for 2005-06 have been collated but not yet been validated. Figures will be available in the HMIC Annual Report 2005-06 due for publication by March 2007.

Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force area in England and Wales retired on grounds of ill health in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officer medical retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  by force from 2000-01 to 2004-05( 3) 
			  Police force  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Avon and Somerset 42 42 34 10 16 
			 Bedfordshire 18 8 7 1 3 
			 Cambridgeshire 11 10 8 4 1 
			 Cheshire 22 22 25 15 11 
			 City of London 9 8 4 8 4 
			 Cleveland 9 21 11 11 11 
			 Cumbria 24 7 7 4 3 
			 Derbyshire 12 9 12 2 9 
			 Devon and Cornwall 15 19 9 6 9 
			 Dorset 12 10 3 9 4 
			 Durham 8 15 11 6 7 
			 Dyfed-Powys 14 13 11 7 9 
			 Essex 34 32 21 16 13 
			 Gloucestershire 7 10 13 5 2 
			 Greater Manchester 110 57 33 10 14 
			 Gwent 16 24 22 8 13 
			 Hampshire 17 19 11 11 8 
			 Hertfordshire 13 8 7 3 1 
			 Humberside 20 11 10 2 10 
			 Kent 29 38 21 9 6 
			 Lancashire 30 39 22 13 11 
			 Leicestershire 28 7 9 6 8 
			 Lincolnshire 4 3 10 3 7 
			 Merseyside 47 58 51 25 25 
			 Metropolitan Police 225 219 150 60 64 
			 Norfolk 10 16 13 6 10 
			 Northamptonshire 8 6 3 3 3 
			 Northumbria 28 33 21 9 4 
			 North Wales 31 20 14 6 7 
			 North Yorkshire 37 16 9 8 8 
			 Nottinghamshire 16 14 16 12 15 
			 South Wales 76 50 33 14 8 
			 South Yorkshire 30 30 17 12 3 
			 Staffordshire 9 24 22 14 13 
			 Suffolk 14 13 12 8 3 
			 Surrey 18 24 12 10 6 
			 Sussex 16 16 9 4 12 
			 Thames Valley 20 17 29 17 8 
			 Warwickshire 15 7 8 4 3 
			 West Mercia 28 28 20 11 10 
			 West Midlands 29 30 21 13 12 
			 West Yorkshire 44 61 23 11 5 
			 Wiltshire 5 3 15 2 6 
			 Total 1,209 1,114 819 418 405 
			 (1) Data collated on behalf of and published by HMIC. Data for 2005-06 have been collated but not yet been validated. Figures will be available in the HMIC annual report 2005-06 due for publication by March 2007.  (2) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.  (3) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive.

Police

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total funding from the Home Office was to each police authority in Wales for the last five years for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: Government funding for Welsh police authorities for the last five years is set out in the following tables:
	
		
			  Welsh Funding Figures, 2002-07 
			   Dyfed-Powys Police: Funding 
			  £ 
			   General Government grants( 1)  Specific grants and capital provision( 2)  Total Government grants 
			 2002-03 47,842,676 6,058,036 53,900,712 
			 2003-04(3) 49,304,391 7,119,855 56,424,246 
			 2004-05(3) 50,885,809 7,555,756 58,441,565 
			 2005-06(3, 5) 52,237,322 8,374,875 60,612,197 
			 2005-06(4) 48,528,000 12,084,197 60,612,197 
			 2006-07(3) 50,074,916 14,113,792 64,188,708 
		
	
	
		
			  Gwent Police: Funding 
			  £ 
			   General Government grants( 1)  Specific grants and capital provision( 2)  Total Government grants 
			 2002-03 66,737,474 5,473,499 72,210,973 
			 2003-04 69,554,581 7,008,159 76,562,740 
			 2004-05(3) 71,815,105 7,083,204 78,898,309 
			 2005-06(3, 5) 74,089,532 8,125,354 82,214,886 
			 2005-06(4) 73,054,000 9,160,886 82,214,886 
			 2006-07(3) 75,337,901 10,781,622 86,119,523 
		
	
	
		
			  North Wales Police: Funding 
			  £ 
			   General Government grants( 1)  Specific grants and capital provision( 2)  Total Government grants 
			 2002-03 70,188,274 8,673,067 78,861,341 
			 2003-04 73,332,013 8,882,538 82,214,551 
			 2004-05(3, 6) 77,281,403 8,704,479 85,985,882 
			 2005-06(3, 5) 78,251,051 10,318,766 88,569,817 
			 2005-06(4) 70,963,000 17,606,817 88,569,817 
			 2006-07(3) 73,178,221 16,893,269 90,071,490 
		
	
	
		
			  South Wales Police: Funding 
			  £ 
			   General Government grants( 1)  Specific grants and capital provision( 2)  Total Government grants 
			 2002-03 158,265,643 10,933,622 169,199,265 
			 2003-04(3) 163,007,017 11,582,918 174,589,935 
			 2004-05(3) 168,229,112 13,460,337 181,689,449 
			 2005-06(3, 5) 174,537,806 15,338,909 189,876,715 
			 2005-06(4) 160,998,000 28,878,715 189,876,715 
			 2006-07 166,265,797 30,316,905 196,582,702 
			 (1) Comprises Home office principal police grant and National Assembly for Wales Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rates.  (2) Specific Grants include: Crime Fighting Fund, Basic Command Unit Fund, Community Support Officers continuation funding, Neighbourhood Policing Fund, Airwave, Premises Improvement Fund. The Rural Policing Fund, Forensic Grant and Special Priority Payments were consolidated into Special Formula Grant in 2006-07.  (3) Home Office payment for 'floor' support included in general grant.  (4) Adjusted for comparison purposes following the transfer of pensions and security funding from general grant in 2006-07.  (5) 2004-05 figures not directly comparable following the removal of PFI funding out of RSG. The increase was actually 3.75 per cent.  (6) In 2004-05 North Wales received additional PFI funding.

Police

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been made available to  (a) each branch of the Metropolitan Police Force and  (b) each county force in 2005-06.

Tony McNulty: The Government allocate funding to police authorities. The funding made available to each branch of the Metropolitan Police is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.
	Government funding for police authorities in England and Wales in 2005-06, including the Metropolitan Police Authority, is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Government funding to police authorities in England and Wales 2005-06 
			  (£ million) 
			  Police Authority  General grant( 1)  Specific Grants and Capital Provision( 2)  Total Grants 2005-06 
			 Avon and Somerset 170.0 19.3 189.3 
			 Bedfordshire 64.9 7.6 72.5 
			 Cambridgeshire 78.0 8.9 86.9 
			 Cheshire 111.5 11.1 122.6 
			 Cleveland 91.1 7.8 98.9 
			 Cumbria 61.9 7.4 69.3 
			 Derbyshire 105.0 11.8 116.8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 173.0 20.7 193.7 
			 Dorset 66.0 7.2 73.2 
			 Durham 87.4 8.4 95.8 
			 Essex 167.0 18.9 185.9 
			 Gloucestershire 61.1 7.6 68.7 
			 Hampshire 197.7 19.0 216.7 
			 Hertfordshire 108.8 11.6 120.4 
			 Humberside 119.1 11.4 130.5 
			 Kent 189.5 21.7 211.2 
			 Lancashire 191.1 19.2 210.3 
			 Leicestershire 107.4 11.6 119.0 
			 Lincolnshire 63.4 8.5 71.9 
			 Norfolk 85.4 10.6 96.0 
			 Northamptonshire 67.9 7.5 75.4 
			 North Yorkshire 75.4 8.6 84.0 
			 Nottinghamshire 132.8 13.1 145.9 
			 Staffordshire 113.3 12.2 125.5 
			 Suffolk 68.5 8.0 76.5 
			 Surrey 91.5 11.8 103.3 
			 Sussex 164.0 18.9 182.9 
			 Thames Valley 220.6 29.1 249.7 
			 Warwickshire 51.8 6.1 57.9 
			 West Mercia 111.8 13.9 125.7 
			 Wiltshire 62.9 7.3 70.2 
			 Shires 3459.6 387.1 3846.7 
			 
			 Greater Manchester 413.3 43.0 456.3 
			 Merseyside 258.2 24.5 282.7 
			 Northumbria 232.6 20.4 253.0 
			 South Yorkshire 184.7 16.7 201.4 
			 West Midlands 427.3 41.6 468.9 
			 West Yorkshire 314.2 29.1 343.3 
			 Metropolitans 1830.3 175.3 2005.6 
			 
			 Metropolitan Police 1932.1 321.4 2253.4 
			 City of London 35.7 5.0 40.7 
			 
			 Total England 7257.7 888.8 8146.4 
			 
			 Dyfed-Powys 52.2 8.4 60.6 
			 Gwent 73.8 8.1 81.9 
			 North Wales 78.0 10.3 88.3 
			 South Wales 174.5 15.3 189.8 
			 Total Wales 378.6 42.1 420.7 
			 
			 England and Wales 7636.3 930.9 8567.1 
			 (1) General grant comprises Home Office principal police grant and DCLG/National Assembly for Wales Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rates, net of 2003-04 amending report adjustments.  (2) Specific Grants includes: Crime fighting fund, community support officers funding, neighbourhood policing fund, Basic Command Unit funding, rural grant, special priority payments, London/South East allowances, forensic grant, airwave, street crime initiative, counter terrorism funding (MPA only). All figures are rounded.   Notes: Figures for the City of London relate to Home Office grant only as calculated in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales). Revenue support grant is allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions. The City is grouped with education authorities for the purposes of funding floors.

Police

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Lancashire  (a) retired and  (b) took retirement on the grounds of ill-health in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The available data are contained in the following tables.
	
		
			  Police officer retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Lancashire police force from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 3) 
			   Retirements 
			 2001-02 107 
			 2002-03(4) 76 
			 2003-04 79 
			 2004-05 111 
			 2005-06 117 
			 (1) Retirements include all medical retirements and ordinary retirements. (2) Full-time equivalent figures that h ave been rounded to the nearest whole number. (3) Financial year runs 1 April to 31  March inclusive.  (4) In 2002-03 leaving figures were not available for quarter 1 (April to June 2002 inclusive). 
		
	
	
		
			  Police officer medical retirements( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Lancashire police force from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 3) 
			   Medical retirements 
			 2001-02 39 
			 2002-03 22 
			 2003-04 13 
			 2004-05 11 
			 2005-06(4) n/a 
			 (1) Data collated on behalf of and published by HMIC.  (2) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number.  (3) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive.  (4) Data not available. Data for 2005-06 have been collated but not yet been validated. Figures will be available in the HMIC annual report 2005-06 due for publication by March 2007.

Police

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of  (a) police community support officers and  (b) regular police officers fall into each ethnic category in each London borough.

Tony McNulty: Data are not available centrally for ethnicity at the required level. The available data, at the force level, are given in the table.
	
		
			  Percentage of police community support officers and police officers in relation to total strength (FTE)( 1)  by ethnicity as at 31 March 2006 
			  Percentage 
			   White  Mixed  Black or Black British  Asian or Asian British  Chinese or other  Not stated 
			  City of London:   
			 Police community support officers 81.8 0.0 9.1 9.1 0.0 0.0 
			 Police officers 94.6 1.4 1.9 1.9 0.1 0.0 
			
			  Metropolitan police:   
			 Police community support officers 62.5 3.4 14.2 12.9 4.9 2.2 
			 Police officers 92.4 1.3 2.4 2.6 1.2 0.2 
			 (1) This table is based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest decimal place for calculation. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.

Prison Rehabilitation

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners undertook treatment with the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many prisoners completed the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust's rehabilitation programme in England and Wales in each year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The following table shows the number of prisoners treated by RAPt.
	
		
			   April 2001- March 2002  April 2002- March 2003  April 2003- March 2004  April 2004- March 2005( 1)  April 2005- March 2006 
			 CARATs(2) 4,757 5,962 6,244 6,296 12,161 
			 12-Step programme starts 572 709 643 682 767 
			 Completions(3) n/a n/a n/a 281 429 
			 (1 )Current contracts started from May 2005.  (2 )Prisoners undergoing an initial assessment in those prisons where RAPt had/has the contract to deliver the CARAT (counselling, assessment, referral, advice and throughcare) service.  (3 )Reliable figures on completions only collected nationally from September 2004.

Prisons

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make publicly available the model used to calculate prison population projections for the Home Office Statistical Bulletin.

John Reid: The models used to calculate the current prison population projections are described in Annex two of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/06, "Prison population projections 2006-2013, England and Wales", published on the Home Office website in July 2006. There are five elements to the modelling. In the very-short term (the first three months) the X12-ARIMA method developed by the USA Census Bureau is used. This method is publicly available at www.census.gov/srd/www/x12a/. In the short-term (between four months and two years) the population is modelled by a stock-and-flow model. This is not publicly available as it links to Prison Service databases that cannot be published. In the longer- term (between two and seven years) the Grove-Macleod model is used. This has been published in OR Insight Vol. 11 Issue one, January-March 1998, pp. 3-9, "Forecasting the prison population". More detail is also available in Occasional Paper 80, "Modelling crime and offending: recent developments in England and Wales" published on the Home Office website in 2003. The impacts of some changes in legislation and operational procedures are estimated using the Criminal Justice System Model and, if necessary, one-off bespoke calculations. The Criminal Justice System Model is owned by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and is available to CJS practitioners but is not publicly available. Any one-off calculations are described in the above mentioned Home Office Statistical Bulletin.

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2144W, on road safety, what proportion of fines were  (a) issued after an offence was recorded on a traffic camera and  (b) fixed penalty notices issued by police officers to motorists.

Vernon Coaker: Available data on the amount of court fines issued for motoring offences detected by camera as a proportion of the total amount of court motoring fines are given in the table.
	The number of cases where fixed penalty notices were originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court cannot be identified separately.
	
		
			  Amount of court fines issued for motoring offences detected by camera as a proportion of the total amount of court fines issued for all motoring offences by region, 2000 to 2004 
			  Percentage 
			  Region  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 North East 6 6 8 7 10 
			 North West 2 2 3 3 2 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2 2 1 1 1 
			 East Midlands 3 5 7 11 9 
			 West Midlands 3 3 2 3 3 
			 East 5 9 12 10 7 
			 London 2 3 2 2 2 
			 South East 2 4 4 5 3 
			 South West 5 8 5 9 9 
			 Wales 3 5 6 7 9 
			  Notes: 1. Includes cases where a fixed penalty notice was originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.  2. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts' case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated.  3. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Victim Support

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding was given to Victim Support in each of the last 20 years at today's prices  (a) in total and  (b) for each police authority area.

Tony McNulty: The following table shows the Home Office grant to Victim Support for the past 20 years, at today's prices, as deflated by the GDP deflator on the HMT website (as of 26 October 2006).
	The Home Office makes the grant nationally and Victim Support distributes it locally. The Home Office does not keep records of the amounts given for each police authority area.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Funding year  To Victim Support  Today's price 
			 1986-87 0.29 0.58 
			 1987-88 1.76 3.37 
			 1988-89 2.74 4.90 
			 1989-90 3.91 6.52 
			 1990-91 4.74 7.32 
			 1991-92 5.67 8.26 
			 1992-93 7.26 10.25 
			 1993-94 8.38 11.52 
			 1994-95 10.02 13.58 
			 1995-96 10.82 14.23 
			 1996-97 11.68 14.87 
			 1997-98 12.68 15.68 
			 1998-99 12.68 15.29 
			 1999-2000 17.50 20.69 
			 2000-01 18.55 21.62 
			 2001-02 25.05 28.52 
			 2002-03 29.30 32.36 
			 2003-04 30.00 32.18 
			 2004-05 30.00 31.32 
			 2005-06 30.00 30.73 
			 2006-07 30.00 30.00

Young Offender Institutions

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) suicides,  (b) attempted suicides and  (c) cases of self-harm there have been in young offender institutions in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested with respect to apparent self-inflicted deaths is shown in table 1.
	There is no definition of what constitutes an attempted suicide, as it is very difficult to measure suicidal intent.
	The information requested with respect to recorded incidents of self-harm is shown in the table 2.
	
		
			  Table 1: Self-inflicted deaths 
			   Number 
			 2001 7 
			 2002 5 
			 2003 3 
			 2004 4 
			 2005 9 
			  Note: The table above shows the number of apparent self-inflicted deaths. This includes all deaths where it appears the individual acted specifically to take their own life, not only those that received a suicide or open verdict at inquest. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Incidents of self-harm 
			   Number 
			 2001 800 
			 2002 900 
			 2003 1,600 
			 2004 1,800 
			 2005 1,900 
			  Note: The system for recording incidents in prisons (IRS) copes with large volumes of data and is constantly being updated. As numbers of self-harm incidents cannot therefore be treated as absolute the figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Additionally, a new form for reporting self-harm (F213SH) was introduced in December 2002. The rise in reported self-harm from 2003 may therefore partly reflect improved reporting rather than an actual increase in self-harm incidents. Self harm from one prison which re-rolled to a YOI in 2003 has been included for the whole period.

ABCA Armies Standardisation Programme

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the ABCA Armies Standardisation Programme; and what recent measures have been taken in pursuit of the objectives of this program.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 6 November 2006
	The American, British, Canadian and Australian armies standardisation programme (ABCA) is a forum in which the US, UK, Canadian, Australian and, since March 2006, New Zealand armies aim to optimise interoperability. This is achieved through cooperation and collaboration, in the continuous pursuit of standardisation and mutual understanding, in order to integrate the capabilities of the ABCA armies in coalition operations.
	In 2006, the five ABCA capability groups and three support groups have held 20 meetings and have produced seven standards, 17 publications, 21 reports and one architecture.
	Specifically, ABCA sponsored a coalition lessons analysis workshop (August 2006), a multilateral interoperability programme functionality test (September 2006) and an interoperability gap analysis seminar (September 2006). The ABCA executive council meeting took place on 2 November in the United States. The assistant chief of the general staff represented the UK.

Absence without Leave

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of soldiers of 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Regiment were absent without leave (AWOL) on  (a) 1 July 2006,  (b) 1 September 2006 and  (c) 1 May 2006; how many individuals AWOL on each date had been so for (i) seven days or more, (ii) 28 days or more and (iii) 56 days or more; how many individuals have been subject to disciplinary action for being AWOL since 1 May 2006; and how many individuals have been subject to each penalty imposed.

Derek Twigg: The numbers of soldiers absent without leave from 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Regiment (2RWELSH) were as follows:
	
		
			   1 May 2006  1 July 2006  1 September 2006 
			  Total
			 Number 10 16 8 
			 Percentage(1) 1.67 2.67 1.3 
			 
			  Days
			 <7 2 1 0 
			 7-27 2 8 0 
			 28-55 1 2 1 
			 56+ 5 5 7 
			 (1) Based on current battalion strength of 601 
		
	
	Since 1 May 2006, 21 soldiers from 2RWELSH have been subject to disciplinary action for the offence of AWOL. There has been one award of restrictions of privileges and 20 awards of detention.
	In addition, a further three are awaiting court-martial and one soldier is awaiting summary dealing.

Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many deaths of  (a) civilians and  (b) militants resulted from NATO activity in Afghanistan in each of the last six months.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 2 November 2006
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2013, to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn).

Afghanistan/Iraq

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many soldiers serving in Afghanistan are from  (a) Wales and  (b) Aberavon constituency;
	(2)  how many soldiers serving in Iraq are from  (a) Wales and  (b) Aberavon constituency.

Derek Twigg: Data on the residential location of armed forces personnel is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many goats have been used in experiments commissioned by his Department in each year since 2000; for what purposes they have been used; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The hyperbaric research programme at QinetiQ Alverstoke is the only programme commissioned by the Ministry of Defence that utilises goats. The research programme advises on safe procedures and treatments for submariners escaping from a disabled submarine. The licence for this research issued by the Home Office requires that the number of procedures carried out on the animals is reported each year. The data are presented in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of procedures 
			 2000 80 
			 2001 53 
			 2002 50 
			 2003 75 
			 2004 27 
			 2005 64 
			 2006(1) 57 
			 (1 )Number of procedures to date.

Armed Forces

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to ensure that members of the armed forces in Afghanistan receive winter warfare clothing.

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional winter clothing is being supplied to the soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 September 2006,  Official Report, column 2342W, to the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper).
	All UK armed forces currently serving in Afghanistan have been issued with a winter clothing supplement.

Army (Deployments)

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the last three operational deployments were of  (a) 40 Commando,  (b) 42 Commando,  (c) 45 Commando and  (d) 28 Regiment Royal Engineers; and what the length of time was between each such deployment.

Adam Ingram: The last three operational deployments of 40 Commando, 42 Commando and 45 Commando are set out in the following table. Figures in brackets indicate the length of time between the deployments.
	
		
			  Operational deployments 
			   1  2  3 
			 40 Commando RM July 2004-January 2005 Operation Telic 4 (Iraq) (14 months) January-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq) (6 months) January-May 2002 Operation Damian (Afghanistan) 
			 42 Commando RM Since October 2006 Operation Herrick 5 (Afghanistan) (38 months) January 2003-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq) (4 months) March 2002- September 2002 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) 
			 45 Commando RM Since October 2006 Operation Herrick 5 (Afghanistan) (28 months) November 2003-May 2004 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) (5 months) January-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq) 
		
	
	In addition:
	(1) Two companies from 40 Commando were operationally deployed in 2006, one to Op Herrick March 2006 to Aug 2006, and one to Op Telic April 2006 to August 2006.
	(2) One company from 42 Commando was operationally deployed on Op Herrick from February to April 2006.
	(3) 42 Commando was the lead commando group from June 2005 to June 2006, and 40 Commando has been the lead commando group since June 2006. This group, although not deployed on operations, is held at very high readiness with a liability for global deployment at short notice.
	Deployments undertaken by 28 Regiment Royal Engineers are normally conducted at sub-unit level and below, and vary in duration and composition of personnel involved. Further, elements of the regiment can be deployed to more than one operational theatre at any one time.
	The last three operational deployments conducted by elements of the regiment
	are:
	
		
			  Operational deployments 
			   1  2  3 
			 28 Regiment Royal Engineers Since September 2006 Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) May 2006-November 2006 Operation Herrick, and Operation Telic (Afghanistan and Iraq) March 2005-September 2005 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland)

Captain Daniel Wright

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which recommendations from the report on the death of Captain Daniel Wright have been implemented.

Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Casualties in Action

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have been  (a) killed and  (b) seriously wounded in action since May 1997.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 October 2006
	Between May 1997 and October 2006, a total of 114 UK armed forces personnel were killed in action during operations overseas. In addition, one serviceman is known to have died as a result of terrorist activities in Northern Ireland during this period.
	The Ministry of Defence provides data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, dating from March 2003 for Iraq and January 2006 for Afghanistan. These statistics are published on the Defence website (every month, one month in arrears), along with those for all fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan which are updated shortly after they occur, and are available at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/.
	Further work is being undertaken to collate and reconcile data relating to casualties which have occurred in Afghanistan before 1 January 2006.
	For other medium-sized operations since May 1997, such as Sierra Leone and the Balkans, data on casualties have not been centrally compiled. We are exploring the feasibility off collating data for these deployments so they may be published. I will write to the right hon. Member when work is complete, and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Combat Stress

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical treatment is given to soldiers returning from combat suffering from stress related disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Community based mental healthcare is available to every military unit, and every Service person, at our 15 regional Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) across the UK plus satellite centres overseas. DCMH teams comprise Psychiatrists and Mental Health Nurses, with access to Clinical Psychologists and mental health social workers. The aim is to see referred individuals at their unit medical centre and, with the patient's permission, to engage with GPs and the patient's chain of command to help manage any mental health problems identified. The full range of psychiatric and psychological treatments are available including medication, psychological therapies and environmental adjustment where appropriate. Our model for treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder meets the standards set by the independent National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
	In-patient care, when necessary, is provided in psychiatric units belonging to the Priory Group. Close liaison is maintained between DCMHs and the Priory units to ensure that all service elements relating to an in-patient's care and management are addressed.
	Personnel in theatre, are provided appropriate levels of support from trained mental health staff either in theatre or by returning to the UK.
	In addition, on 16 May this year my predecessor announced an enhanced post- operational mental healthcare programme for recently-demobilised reservists. The programme, which will be in place before the end of the year, will provide out-patient assessment and treatment for reservists demobilised since January 2003 who have deployed on Operations and are suffering from combat related mental illness that is linked to their mobilised service. A formal announcement will be made before the end of the year to confirm the details of the programme, including the location at which the assessments will be provided, and the date on which the service will commence.

Departmental IT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which databases operated by his Department are located  (a) wholly and  (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located.

Des Browne: Information on the number and location of databases, either wholly or in part, outside the UK is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The major database owners in the MoD are the MoD Finance Director, the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency (AFPAA), the People Pay and Pensions Agency (PPPA) and the Defence Communications Services Agency (DCSA). Only the DCSA has overseas databases.
	Two of the DCSA's integrated project teams (IPTs) manage, operate or maintain databases that are able to be located outside the UK. The Logistics Applications IPT (LA IPT) operate 168 applications, a number of which are deployable onto ships, land and air units. Therefore, there will be periods when sub-sets of databases are abroad or generated abroad. Quantifying this would be extremely difficult. Examples of the more deployable applications are: GLOBAL (not an acronym), Unit Maintenance Management System (UMMS), On-board Automated Ships Information System (OASIS), Visibility in Transit and Asset Logging (VITAL) and Work Recording and Asset Management (WRAM). There are some servers for WRAM at Gutersloh (Germany).
	Defence Corporate Business Applications IPT (DCBA IPT) support the Theatre Operational Medical Datacapture System (TOMD System). This is a military standalone laptop system which is used to data capture medical data world wide with UK forces but is primarily used in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
	There may be instances of databases created locally at overseas locations, particularly in Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOBs), for tasks specific to their location. There is no way of identifying these centrally, although as the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) networks roll out, these databases will be identified and either brought up to standard and then managed by the DCSA, or de-commissioned.

Departmental Publications

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) circulation,  (b) cost and  (c) title is of each publication his Department has issued since 1 July 2005.

Derek Twigg: Not all the information on publications requested is held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Defence has issued centrally the following formal publications:
	
		
			  Title  Number of copies  Print cost (£) 
			 CM6616 Response HCDC Future Capabilities 300 1,250 
			 CM6619 Response HCDC AF Bill 300 1,250 
			 CM6620 Response HCDC Duty of Care 300 1,250 
			 Sanctuary 2005 19,500 20,700 
			 CM6697 Defence Industrial Strategy 3,500 22,890 
			 Future Conflicts Insight Booklet 1,400 2,648 
			 Race Equality Scheme Report 250 1,621 
			 SIT Publication 500 815 
			 Veterans Strategy Booklet 2,500 1,471 
			 Capability and Alignment Study 7,000 4,466 
			 CM6851 Government Response to Deepcut Review 300 1,250 
			 Information Managers Handbook 2,500 3,372 
			 Information Managers Precis 2,500 1,299 
			 Sanctuary 2006 20,000 18,927 
			 Maximising Benefit from Defence Research 350 2,102 
			 Defence Technology Strategy 3,000 9,900 
			 Total  95,211 
			  Note: 'Formal' means official printed documents for external distribution to the public or Parliament. 'Centrally' relates only to publications by DGMC. This does not include those produced by other directorates within the Central Top Level Budget (TLB), nor to TLBs beyond MOD Main Building.

Departmental Staff

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of vacancies in his Department in the last 12 months required candidates to have at least a grade C in  (a) English and  (b) mathematics GCSE.

Derek Twigg: This data is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Injured Servicemen (Active Duty)

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have been wounded on operations in  (a) Afghanistan,  (b) Iraq and  (c) other theatres in each month since January 2005.

Derek Twigg: The best centrally held records, currently available, on the numbers of service personnel wounded on operations in Iraq since March 2003 and Afghanistan since January 2006 are published on the Ministry of Defence website (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets). Work is ongoing to ascertain whether casualty data for Afghanistan pre-2006 is sufficiently robust to enable figures to be published in the same format as for Iraq.
	For the period between 1 January 2006 and 30 September 2006:
	70 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK and Coalition medical facilities categorised as Wounded in Action, including as a result of hostile action.
	53 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to UK and Coalition medical facilities for non-battle injuries.
	14 UK personnel were categorised as very seriously injured from all causes excluding disease.
	9 UK personnel were categorised as seriously injured from all causes excluding disease.
	198 UK personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan on medical grounds, whatever the reason.
	The numbers of personnel SI or VSI from all causes excluding disease is broken down by month in table 1. The figures do not include personnel who subsequently died of their wounds. It is important to note that when the end of the reporting week rolls over into the next calendar month, the statistics for that week will not be reported until the end of the following month. This means that the statistics for August do not account for casualties sustained in the final week of the month—a period in which several UK soldiers were seriously injured in contacts with the Taliban. The statistics falling in to the reporting month of October are still being cross checked to ensure they are accurate, and will be published shortly.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of SI and VSI Op. Herrick military and civilian casualties from all causes excluding disease (1 January 2006-30 September 2006) 
			  Month  Total 
			 January 2006 0 
			 February 0 
			 March 0 
			 April 3 
			 May 0 
			 June 3 
			 July 3 
			 August 4 
			 September 10 
			 Total 23 
		
	
	Between March 2003 and 31 December 2005, 230 UK military and civilian personnel were treated at UK medical facilities in Iraq for wounds received as a result of hostile action. These figures are derived from the best records currently held centrally but do not include those who may have been treated in the medical facilities of Coalition partners.
	Separate records from the notification of casualty reporting system, for the same period in Iraq, show that some 40 UK military and civilian personnel were categorised as very seriously injured (VSI) from all causes, and that some 70 personnel were categorised as seriously injured (SI) from all causes including as a result of hostile action. Historic records do not contain sufficient data to allow us to break the figures down any further.
	Since the beginning of 2006, we have sought to collect better information on those suffering wounds as a result of operations. Between 1 January and 30 September 2006:
	47 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 Facility in Iraq and categorised as Wounded in Action, including as a result of hostile action.
	855 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 Facility for Disease or Non Battle Injuries.
	3 UK personnel were categorised as very seriously injured from all causes excluding disease.
	7 UK military and civilian personnel were categorised as seriously injured from all causes excluding disease.
	553 UK military and civilian personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.
	The monthly breakdown for those SI and VSI from all causes excluding disease is given in table 2.
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of SI and VSI Op. Telic military and civilian casualties from all causes excluding disease (1 January 2006-30 September 2006) 
			  Month  Total 
			 January 2006 2 
			 February 0 
			 March 1 
			 April 1 
			 May 1 
			 June 1 
			 July 2 
			 August 1 
			 September 1 
			 Total 10 
		
	
	We are currently working to establish the feasibility of publishing statistics for casualties in other areas of deployment.

Iraq

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have returned from Iraq wounded in each month of the last three years; and how many were wounded by  (a) friendly fire,  (b) accident and  (c) enemy action.

Des Browne: The Ministry of Defence publishes data on battle and non-battle casualties that have resulted from our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, dating from March 2003 for Iraq. The best centrally available casualty statistics can be found on the Ministry of Defence website at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets.
	For the period from March 2003 to 31 December 2005, 230 UK military and civilian personnel were treated at UK medical facilities in Iraq for wounds received as a result of hostile action.
	Separate records, from notification of casualty reporting (NOTICAS), show that some 40 UK military and civilian personnel have been categorised as very seriously injured (VSI) from all causes, and that some 70 personnel have been categorised as seriously injured (SI) from all causes. These figures include personnel treated for wounds received as a result of hostile action.
	Up to 4,000 UK military and civilian personnel (including a small number of Iraqis) have been medically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.
	The total number of UK military and civilian personnel who were treated at the Shaibah "Role 3" field hospital was 6,609. Of these 226 were categorised as wounded in action, including as a result of hostile action, and 6,383 were categorised as suffering disease or non-battle injury.
	Since the beginning of the year, we have sought to collect better information. Between 1 January and 30 September 2006, centrally available records show that 47 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah "Role 3" facility in Iraq and categorised as wounded in action, including as a result of hostile action. 10 UK military and civilian personnel were categorised as either very seriously ill or seriously injured from all causes excluding disease over the same period, all of whom were aeromedically evacuated. A monthly breakdown is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of Op Telic military and civilian casualties excluding disease, 1 January 2006 to 30 September 2006 
			   Category  
			   Friendly Fire  Accident  Enemy Action  Total 
			 January — 1 1 2 
			 February — — — 0 
			 March — — 1 1 
			 April — 1 — 1 
			 May — — 1 1 
			 June — — 1 1 
			 July — — 2 2 
			 August — — 1 1 
			 September — — 1 1 
			 Total 0 2 8 10 
		
	
	In the same period 553 UK military and civilian personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason. These records do not cover whether the evacuation was a result of friendly fire, enemy action or accident. Work is being done to expand the data recorded for those aeromedically evacuated from Iraq in the future.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many bandsmen from the band of the Royal Marines, Dartmouth, were flown from the UK to Baghdad to play at the Senior British Representative's dinner on 5 July; and what the cost was to public funds;
	(2)  who decided to announce the Senior British Military Representative in Iraq's dinner on 5 July at Maude House, Baghdad in the Court and Social column of the  Daily Telegraph; and who paid for this announcement;
	(3)  what the cost was of the Senior British Military Representative's dinner on 5 July; and who met the costs;
	(4)  what contact with the enemy the convoy escorting the band of the Royal Marines, Dartmouth, encountered on its journey between Baghdad airport and Maude House and back for their performance at the dinner given by the Senior British Military Representative on 5 July; and whether members of the escort on either journey were  (a) killed and  (b) wounded;
	(5)  who escorted the band of the Royal Marines, Dartmouth, from Baghdad airport to Maude House and back for their performance at the dinner on 5 July; and how many soldiers and vehicles were involved in the escort;
	(6)  whether the bandsmen from the band of the Royal Marines, Dartmouth, who played at the dinner hosted by the Senior British Military Representative on 5 July, undertook other duties whilst in Iraq;
	(7)  whether alcohol was consumed at the dinner given by the senior British Military Representative in Iraq on 5 July at Maude House, Baghdad; what the British military policy is on consumption of alcohol whilst on operation; and whether the bandsmen playing at this event were subject to the operational constraints on alcohol consumption.

Adam Ingram: No Royal Marines Bandsmen were flown to Baghdad specifically to play at the dinner held by the Senior Military Representative—Iraq (SBMR-I) on 5 July 2006.
	The Band of HM Royal Marines Britannia Royal Naval College was tasked to perform a number of engagements to Coalition Forces and the Royal Marines in Baghdad in support of Defence Diplomacy and the 'Moral Component'. Thirty Royal Marines musicians were in Baghdad from 2-10 July 2006 and also gave a number of performances for staff and patients at the coalition military hospital in Baghdad.
	The main focus of the Band's visit was to provide support to ceremonial events for military and civil diplomatic officers and the Iraqi Government and raise the profile of the UK element serving in Baghdad. Whilst in theatre, the band was also able to give an additional performance on 5 July 2006 at an event hosted by the SBMR-I, which allowed key coalition military officers to meet and interact with their Iraqi counterparts in a more informal setting. This event was announced in the Court Circular column of the  Daily Telegraph by the Royal Marines Corps Secretary with approval of the then SBMR-I, LT General Fry. The cost of the announcement was borne entirely from the non-public, Royal Marines Corps funds.
	As the band was already in Baghdad for the primary purpose stated above, there were no extra costs associated with flying the band from the UK for the dinner on 5 July. During its time in Baghdad, the band was escorted by the Protection Force Company (1 Grenadier Guards) whose role is to provide escorts to all visitors and senior military officers working in the Baghdad area. For reasons of operational security I can not reveal how many soldiers and vehicles were involved in the escort. Although I can say that no members of the escort were killed or injured while escorting the band and in fact at no time during their visit did the band or their escort come into any contact with enemy groups.
	The cost of the dinner, including alcohol, was £190.68. In general the British military policy is that the consumption of alcohol is at the discretion of individual commanders and will vary with the operational circumstances. When alcohol is permitted, the normal limit is two cans of beer per person per day. The bandsmen at the event would have been operating within these policy guidelines.

IT Projects

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's five most expensive  (a) web and  (b) non-web information technology projects have been since 2001.

Adam Ingram: Much of this information is not held centrally and could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, we can provide the following information on the five largest information technology projects, but it does not distinguish between web and non-web information technology projects.
	
		
			   Contract  Originally estimated cost  (£ million)  Most recently estimated cost  (£ million)  Outturn  (£ million)  Comments 
			 1. Skynet5 (Satellite Communication Services) 2,775 3,660 137 Expenditure does not include expenditure from other areas within the Department that call up SATCOM services. 'Most recent cost' reflects revised contract to include a third satellite and a fourth satellite in the event of the failure at the launch stage of one of the three satellites. Should there be no loss the cost will reduce to £3,273 million. 
			 2. Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (DII(F)) 2,297 2,313 252 This relates to the Increment 1 contract only Increments 2 and 3 have not yet been let. 
			 3. Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) 237 237 106 These estimates comprise all extramural costs for JPA and include the cost of personnel administration services using JPA up to the end of financial year 2008-2009. Outturn costs cover extramural expenditure to the end of financial year 2005-2006. JPA cost estimates are under review and are very likely to increase, subject to formal approval of adjustments to the programme and its contract to ensure alignment with the DII project. 
			 4. Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) 98 82 0 No outturn yet—contract placed in April 2006. 
			 5. Joint Asset Management and Engineering solutions (JAMES) Up to 30 20 12.5 Costs for the MIS system (JAMES 1) supporting WFM. This is based on a six year contract with the Prime Systems Integrator. There is an option to extend by a further four years but the decision has not made yet. 
			  Note: Purely voice communications systems are not considered to fall within the scope to the question.

Language Skills

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which foreign languages are taught to military personnel.

Derek Twigg: The following foreign languages are taught to military personnel:
	Albanian
	Albanian Gheg
	Arabic
	Arabic (Egyptian)
	Arabic (Iraqi)
	Arabic (Gulf)
	Arabic (Levantine)
	Arabic (Moroccan)
	Baluchi
	Bosnian
	Bulgarian
	Chinese (Mandarin)
	Croatian
	Czech
	Danish
	Dari
	Dutch
	Farsi
	Finnish
	Flemish
	French
	Georgian
	German
	Greek
	Hebrew
	Hindi
	Hungarian
	Indonesian
	Italian
	Japanese
	Kazakh
	Korean
	Kurdish
	Latvian
	Lithuanian
	Macedonian
	Malay
	Nepali
	Norwegian
	Pashtu
	Polish
	Portugese
	Portuguese (Brazil)
	Punjabi (Pakistani)
	Romanian
	Russian
	Serbian
	Shona
	Slovak
	Slovene
	Spanish
	Spanish LA (Latin American)
	Swahili
	Swedish
	Thai
	Turkish
	Ukrainian
	Urdu
	Languages are required to support Defence's operational, international liaison and defence diplomacy outputs. The level of attainment varies according to need, ranging from low level colloquial skills to foil interpreter standard.

Lockheed Martin

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been awarded to Lockheed Martin by his Department since 1 January 2006.

Adam Ingram: In the following table is listed information extracted from the Defence Bills Agency database (see Notes 1 and 2) covering contracts awarded to Lockheed Martin by the Ministry of Defence since 1 January, 2006.
	
		
			  Contractor name  Date contract placed  Description 
			 Lockheed Martin Aerospace Systems Integration Corporation 1 January 2006 Continued Hire of Merlin-Mounted Electro-Optic Camera for the Maritime Warfare Centre 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 3 January 2006 Research and Demonstration of a Munition Environment Data Logger System 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 11 January 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 23 January 2006 Counter Measure Spares (see Note 3) 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 25 January 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 2 February 2006 Missile Payload Assessment 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 14 February 2006 Refurbishment/re-lifing of bomb tail units to ensure air- worthiness and extend flying time. 
			 Lockheed Martin Stasys Limited 21 February 2006 Provision of technical support and document configuration for Airborne Stand Off Radar System 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 23 February 2006 Refurbishment/re-lifing of bomb tail units to ensure air- worthiness and extend flying time. 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 1 March 2006 Supply of services and stores in support of the Bowman Continuation Trainer programme 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 3 March 2006 Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control Study 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 6 March 2006 Attack Helicopter - Apache Munitions Training Display Models 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 9 March 2006 Battlefield Support Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 23 March 2006 Systems Integration Capability Development Programme 
			 Lockheed Martin Sippican Inc 20 April 2006 Underwater probes for collection of temperature and salinity data for oceanographic and geological studies 
			 Lockheed Martin Corporation 24 April 2006 Agreement in relation to Armoured Vehicles Training Service 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 28 April .2006 Light Armoured Vehicle Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 3 May 2006 Overseas Global Positioning System Trial 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 15 May 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 17 May 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Limited 22 May 2006 To conduct a study for an enhanced, manned rotary-wing solution to meet all the requirements of a Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control capability 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 24 May 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin Stasys Limited 26 May.2006 Provision of Independent Technical Advice to the Sea King ASaC MK 7 Programme 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 1 June 2006 Repair to Ground Support Equipment 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 12 June 2006 Post Design Services for Field Electrical Power Distribution Systems 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 27 July.2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 28 July 2006 Attack Helicopter - Target Practice Ammunition 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 16 August 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 17 August 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 17 August.2006 Countermeasure Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 18 August 2006 Light Armoured Vehicle Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 22 August.2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Limited 31 August 2006 Redesign of Sonar System for nuclear deterrent. 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 7 September 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 13 September 2006 Communication Systems Spares 
			 Lockheed Martin UK Insys Limited 21 September .2006 To develop a generic model that can assess the weapon/ target interaction element of a guided missile's performance in a range of environments 
			  Notes:1. The Defence Bills Agency database excludes contracts placed on behalf of Other Government Departments, joint venture/alliance contracts, contracts placed through collaborative projects and those awarded by the Ministry of Defence's trading fund agencies.2. Information is based on contract details recorded in the DBA database. Please note that there is a six to eight week average delay between the date that contracts are signed between the appropriate parties and the contract details being received at the Agency in Liverpool, although on occasions a small minority may take longer.3. Countermeasures is a term covering a range of capabilities across a broad range of technologies intended to defeat or disrupt threats to UK forces or equipment.

Mental Health

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding his Department has provided for the treatment of  (a) service personnel and  (b) veterans with mental health conditions in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) mental health condition and (ii) treatment centre.

Derek Twigg: Out-patient mental health care for Service personnel is provided in the MOD's 15 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) across the UK plus satellite centres overseas. DCMHs are the responsibility of the three single Services. The following tables show the total amount of funding provided by the Royal Navy and the Army for the DCMHs within their responsibility in each year since 2004-05:
	
		
			  RN 
			   £ million 
			 2004-05 1.583 
			 2005-06 1.630 
			 2006-07 (allocated) 1.686 
			  Source: Medical Director General (Naval) 
		
	
	
		
			  Army 
			   £ million 
			 2004-05 1.707 
			 2005-6 2.374 
			 2006-7 (spend to September 2006) 1.538 
			  Source: Army Medical Directorate 
		
	
	Figures for previous years are no longer held centrally. Figures cannot be broken down by mental health condition or treatment centre.
	In the RAF, DCMHs are managed at station level. The funding for each DCMH is therefore part of the RAF station's overall budget and so is not separately identifiable from the costs of the overall station medical centre.
	In-patient mental health care for Service personnel is provided by the Priory Group. For the period from initial contract (1 April 2004) the total cost of the services provided by the Priory Group has been approximately £10 million, broken down as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2003-04 0.36 
			 2004-05 4.15 
			 2005-06 4.45 
			 2006-07 (spend to August 2006) 1.69 
			  Source: Healthcare Directorate, Defence Medical Services Department 
		
	
	These figures include the cost of assessing patients as well as any treatment provided. They also include costs for services provided by the Priory Group between 1 December 2003 and 31 March 2004 prior to the current contract. MOD pays the Priory Group centrally via a single contract so the figures cannot be broken down to show the amount spent per mental health condition or per Priory treatment centre.
	Previously, in-patient mental health care was provided in the Duchess of Kent Psychiatric Hospital (DKPH) whose costs in its final year of operation (2003-04) were some £10 million. Figures on the costs of DKPH in previous years are no longer held centrally.
	With regard to veterans, upon leaving the armed forces, or on demobilisation for Reservists, it is the long established practice that responsibility for medical care passes to the NHS. This has been the case since 1948 under successive Governments.
	For veterans who are also War Pensioners, under the War Pensions Scheme the MOD has a discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of the medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise wholly or mainly arise as a result of the disablement due to service, before 6 April 2005. It cannot be used to fund treatment provided under other UK legislation. Where appropriate remedial treatment at homes run by the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress) is funded by this route for pensioned psychological conditions. The following table shows the funding received by Combat Stress under this provision. The figures are published by Combat Stress and are not broken down by treatment centre or mental health condition.
	
		
			  Income received by Combat Stress to defray individual treatment expenses 
			   £ million 
			 2001-02 2.1 
			 2002-03 2.4 
			 2003-04 2.6 
			 2004-05 2.8 
			 2005-06 2.9 
			  Source: Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (?Combat Stress?)

Mental Health

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the independent mental health organisations employed by his Department to treat  (a) serving personnel and  (b) veterans in each of the last five years; how many days' treatment were provided in each year; and how much was spent in each year.

Derek Twigg: The Priory Group is the only independent mental healthcare provider contracted by the MOD. The following table shows the number of treatment days provided:
	
		
			  Date from  Date to  Bed days 
			 1 December 2003 31 March 2004 2,096 
			 1 April 2004 31 March 2005 8,539 
			 1 April 2005 31 March 2006 9,382 
			 1 April 2006 7 September 2006 2,312 
			  Total 22,329 
		
	
	For the period from initial contract the total cost of the services provided by the Priory Group has been approximately £10 million, broken down as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 0.36 
			 2004-05 4.15 
			 2005-06 4.45 
			 2006-07(1) 1.69 
			 (1 )to August 2006 
		
	
	These figures include the cost of assessing patients as well as any treatment provided. They also include costs for services provided by the Priory Group between 1 December 2003 and April 2004 prior to the current contract.
	With regard to veterans, upon leaving the armed forces, or on demobilisation for reservists, it is the long established practice that responsibility for medical care passes to the NHS. This has been the case since 1948 under successive Governments.
	Under the War Pensions scheme the Department has a discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of the medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise wholly or mainly arise as a result of the disablement due to service, before 6 April 2005, where it is not provided for under other legislation of the United Kingdom. This includes the individual costs of war pensioners undergoing "remedial treatment" at homes run by the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress) for conditions related to their individual pensioned disablement and of related expenses, such as travel costs. The following table shows the funding received by Combat Stress-under this provision:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2000-01 1.5 
			 2001-02 2.1 
			 2002-03 2.4 
			 2003-04 2.6 
			 2004-05 2.8 
			  Source: Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society ("Combat Stress") 
		
	
	The number of funded treatment days each year are not separately identifiable.
	Costs may also be defrayed under this provision in respect of other veterans with mental health conditions and in relation to other providers of treatment, but such expenditure is not separately identifiable.

Parachute Training

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical support is available to those taking part in the special forces basic parachute training course; and what changes to such support have been made in the last 12 months.

Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Parachute Training

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to introduce  (a) automatic activation devices and  (b) audio altimeters for military trainee parachutists.

Adam Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Parliamentary Questions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will provide a substantive reply to question 78398 tabled by the hon. Member for Portsmouth South on 13 June.

Adam Ingram: I replied to the hon. Member on 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1528W.

Parliamentary Questions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer question number 85930 on light armoured vehicles tabled by the hon. Member for Portsmouth South on 12 July 2006.

Adam Ingram: I replied to the hon. Member on 11 October 2006,  Official Report, column 745W.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what savings estimate he has made of the effect on costs of the reforms to public sector pensions agreed with trades unions in 2005 for each year between 2006-07 and 2050-51; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 31 October 2006,  Official Report, column 317W.
	While the Armed Forces Pension Scheme is not covered by any of the agreements with the Public Sector Trade Unions the reformed pension arrangements introduced in 2005 for the armed forces are expected to produce significant long-term savings.

Porton Down

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the health risk to residents of Swindon of Porton Down's release of bacteria in the town in 1966; whether any other releases occurred between 1976 and 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: During the Cold War era there was a very real threat of biological weapons being used against the UK. Therefore, the MOD commissioner a series of open-air defence studies to evaluate the vulnerability of the UK.
	The open air defence studies were undertaken in two phases. The first phase involved the open air release of harmless stimulant bacteria to assess dissemination characteristics. The second involved suspension of harmless simulants on individual micro-threads to determine their ability to survive in different climatic conditions.
	The only open air defence study undertaken in Swindon was in September 1966 and involved a series of micro-thread survival assessment studies. It did not involve the open air release of bacteria.
	Reports detailing these MOD Open Air Defence trials were released into the public domain in the mid 1990's. Subsequently, following public concern, the MOD commissioned an independent expert to review the studies. This review concluded that
	"...the releases of bacteria during the trials were very unlikely to have had health consequences for the overwhelming majority of individuals who were exposed...".
	The full report can be located at http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/HealthandSafetyPublications/DefenceTrials/DorsetDefenceTrialsReport.htm.

Premature Voluntary Release

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many premature voluntary release exits there were from the regular  (a) infantry,  (b) Royal Artillery,  (c) Royal Engineers,  (d) Royal Corps of Signals,  (e) Royal Armoured Corps,  (d) Household Cavalry and  (e) Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers in each year between 1996 and 2001.

Derek Twigg: The following table shows the number of voluntary outflow exits for trained officers and soldiers for each financial year from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2001.
	
		
			   Date of voluntary outflow 
			  Arm/Service  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01 
			 Household Cavalry/Royal Armoured Corps 370 320 440 320 320 
			 Royal Regiment of Artillery 380 490 530 440 460 
			 Corps of Royal Engineers 690 710 620 610 560 
			 Royal Corps of Signals 680 800 730 610 720 
			 The Infantry 1,820 1,620 1,800 1,650 1,530 
			 Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers 430 510 500 470 480 
			  Notes:1. The term premature voluntary release has been changed to voluntary outflow (VO), although the methodology remains the same.2. VO is defined as all applications and exits from trained personnel which are generated by the individual before their time expiry.3. The figures are based on all voluntary outflow from the trained strength of the UK regular army.4. Figures exclude officers in the general staff (i.e. those with a rank of Colonel and above).5. All data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

President of the Regimental Institute

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many President of the Regimental Institute shops operate at military bases in the UK; and how many are run by commercial businesses.

Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

President of the Regimental Institute

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance his Department issues to commanding officers on  (a) the appointment of external commercial businesses to run President of the Regimental Institute shops,  (b) permissible profit margins of such shops,  (c) the overhead costs which such businesses should pay and  (d) the proportion of the profits of such businesses which should be paid to regimental or other funds for the welfare of service men and women.

Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Radio Equipment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had on providing  (a) individual radios and  (b) radio frequencies for military parachutists.

Derek Twigg: It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Redress Procedures

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel in  (a) the Army,  (b) the Royal Navy and  (c) the Royal Air Force have initiated redress procedures since 2003; and in how many cases in (i) the Army, (ii) the Royal Navy and (iii) the Royal Air Force the complaint was upheld.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 31 October 2006
	While the Army maintains a central record of all redress cases, including those dealt with at the first (commanding officer) level of the process, the Navy and Air Force record only those cases which are submitted to the second (2 Star) and third (Service Board) levels. On this basis, our current records show that the numbers of personnel who have submitted a redress in each of the Services since 2003 are:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Army 702 
			 Royal Navy (1)480 
			 Royal Air Force (1)343 
			 (1) Records are not kept centrally of complaints under consideration at the first level and numbers could be provided only at disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	It is not possible to identify the numbers of successful complaints since only a complainant can judge whether their redress is deemed to have had a successful outcome.

Royal Irish Regiment

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost was of the Royal Irish Regiment Home Service Battalions in each of the last 10 years.

Adam Ingram: Information on the total cost of the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment (R IRISH) from the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland's Top Level Budget is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, I can confirm that the cost of military pay, ERNIC and superannuation for the three Home Service Battalions of the R IRISH over the last five financial years (the only years for which records are available) are as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2002-03 65,772,000 
			 2003-04 65,294,000 
			 2004-05 66,472,000 
			 2005-06 64,972,000 
			 2006-07 (year to date) 40,133,000

Royal Navy

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Type 45 destroyers and  (b) Astute class submarines will be built; and what the anticipated in-service dates for each will be.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 1 November 2006
	In July 2004, my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State announced plans for a class of eight Type 45 destroyers, of which six are now on contract. A decision has not yet been made on ordering the seventh and eighth ships but all factors will be taken into account, including the affordability of industry's proposals, value for money, and the wider implementation of the Maritime Industrial Strategy by industry and MOD.
	The planned In Service Date (ISO) for the First of Class, Daring, is 2009. The remaining five ships on contract are planned to enter service at intervals over a four-year period following the First of Class ISD.
	Three Astute class submarines are on order with BAE Systems, and further boat orders are currently being considered, subject to affordability. We are working with industry as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy to achieve an affordable and sustainable submarine programme.
	The planned In Service Date for the First of Class, Astute, is 2009. The second of class, Ambush, will follow in 2010, and the third of class, Artful, in 2012.

Service Personnel

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel are  (a) deployed and  (b) stationed in (i) Germany, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) Bosnia-Herzegovina, (iv) Croatia, (v) Kosovo, (vi) Albania, (vii) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, (viii) Sierra Leone, (ix) the Gulf Region, (x) Turkey, (xi) Gibraltar, (xii) Belize, (xiii) Kenya, (xiv) Canada, (xv) the Falkland Islands, (xvi) Cyprus, (xvii) Brunei and (xviii) Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: Data collected from manual records(1) show that on 3 October 2006 there were the following numbers of service personnel deployed on operations abroad in the named countries:
	(1) Data are based on personnel reports manually collated from operational deployments, and may not include all current operations. Figures include UK Regular Forces and Reserve Forces.
	
		
			  Country  Service personnel 
			 Germany — 
			 Northern Ireland(1) 7,040 
			 Bosnia-Herzegovina 630 
			 Croatia — 
			 Kosovo 170 
			 Albania — 
			 FYR Macedonia — 
			 Sierra-Leone — 
			 Gulf Region(2) 8,610 
			 Turkey — 
			 Gibraltar 550 
			 Belize — 
			 Kenya — 
			 Canada — 
			 Falkland Islands(3) 1,280 
			 Cyprus 2,900 
			 Brunei — 
			 Afghanistan 7,000 
			 (1) This figure has been provided by HQ Northern Ireland and is at 30 September 2006.(2) Includes personnel deployed in Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Oman, and personnel deployed on ships in the Gulf Region.(3) Includes personnel deployed on Ascension Island. Notes:1.When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.2. Denotes zero or rounded to zero Source:PJHQ 
		
	
	The following numbers of service personnel were permanently posted overseas in the named countries at 1 April 2006:
	
		
			  Country  Service personnel 
			 Germany 22,170 
			 Northern Ireland 6,800 
			 Bosnia-Herzegovina — 
			 Croatia — 
			 Kosovo — 
			 Albania — 
			 FYR Macedonia — 
			 Sierra-Leone 100 
			 Gulf Region(1) 380 
			 Turkey 30 
			 Gibraltar 360 
			 Belize 70 
			 Kenya 30 
			 Canada 290 
			 Falkland Islands 340 
			 Cyprus 3,170 
			 Brunei 160 
			 Afghanistan — 
			 (1) Includes Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. 
		
	
	The numbers of personnel posted to each location abroad are shown in Quarterly Tri-Service Publication 6, Global Location of UK Regular Forces (TSP 6).
	Copies of TSP 6 are held in the House of Commons Library and are also available at www.dasa.mod.uk.

Suicides

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many suicides have taken place among deployed UK military personnel in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Afghanistan and  (c) elsewhere in each of the last three years.

Des Browne: The Ministry of Defence has centrally compiled and verified records of coroner-confirmed suicides or open verdict deaths among UK Service personnel up to 31 December 2005. Between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2005, there were three coroner-confirmed suicides or open verdict deaths among regular Service personnel while deployed in Iraq. There were no coroner-confirmed suicides or open verdicts among Service personnel in Afghanistan. During the same period there were 50 other coroner-confirmed suicide and open verdicts among regular Service personnel, who were not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan(1). Details are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Iraq  Afghanistan  Elsewhere 
			 All 3 0 50 
			 2003 (1)2 0 20 
			 2004 0 0 16 
			 2005 1 0 14 
			 (1) Includes a soldier who was aeromeded back to the UK as a result of an incident in Iraq and subsequently died in a UK hospital. 
		
	
	In addition there was one suicide in 2005 involving a reservist soldier serving in Iraq.
	The figures provided do not include any violent or unnatural deaths that have not yet been fully investigated by the coroner.
	Overall, the suicide rate(2) of the United Kingdom armed forces is approximately half that of the rate for the United Kingdom population as a whole.
	(1) These include personnel deployed overseas, on overseas postings or based in the United Kingdom.
	(2) Adjusted for age and gender.

Territorial Army

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) established and  (b) actual strength is of (i) the regular Army and (ii) the Territorial Army, broken down by (A) recruits, (B) trained soldiers and other ranks, (C) senior non-commissioned officers and warrant officers, (D) junior officers Second Lieutenant to Captain and (E) senior officers of Major and above.

Derek Twigg: Table 1 provides a breakdown, by rank, of the regular army strength against liability as at 1 August 2006. Table 2 provides a breakdown of the Territorial Army, by rank, against the overall liability. A detailed breakdown of the Territorial Army liability by rank will not be available until TA re-balancing has been completed which is expected in mid 2007.
	
		
			  Table 1: Strength of regular army as at 1 August 2006, shown against liability 
			   Strength( 1)  Liability( 2) 
			 Total 106,930 n/a 
			 Officers 14,900 n/a 
			 Trained officers 13,980 13,250 
			 Senior officers (Majors and above) 7,670 6,670 
			 Junior officers (ranks up to Captain) 6,310 6,580 
			 Untrained officers 930 na 
			 Soldiers 92,030 na 
			 Trained soldiers 82,480 85,460 
			 Senior non-commissioned officers and warrant officers (warrant officer and sergeants) 22,690 21,720 
			 Other ranks (ranks up to Corporal) 59,780 63,740 
			 Untrained soldiers 9,550 na 
			 (1) Figures include trained officers and soldiers; full time reserve service (full, limited and home commitment) but exclude home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reserves, Territorial Army and other reserves.(2) Liability is based on the regular army liability 2006(.) Notes:1. All data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.2. n/a = 'not applicable' as there is no liability for untrained officers and soldiers. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Strength of Territorial Army as at 1 August 2006, shown against liability 
			   Strength( 1)  Liability 
			 Total 36,260 42,000 
			 Officers 5,350 __ 
			 Senior officers (Majors and above) 2,070 __ 
			 Junior officers (ranks up to Captain) 3,280 __ 
			 Soldier 30,910 __ 
			 Senior non-commissioned officers and warrant officers (warrant officer and sergeants) 4,960 __ 
			 Other ranks (ranks up to Corporal) 25,950 __ 
			 (1) TA Personnel include Group A & B, Mobilised TA and Officer Training Corps (OTC), and exclude non regular permanent staff and full time reserve service. Notes:All data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. Numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.